Preschool behaviour

Our son is almost 4 and his preschool teacher has suggested we find somebody who "understands his behaviour".
1. As he is bilingual his teacher is concerned that he is not picking up English quick enough. He makes full sentences in Spanish and choses not to use English even when we have a conversation with him in English.
2. A behaviour recognised by us as a quirk and his teacher as "unusual" is when he gets excited he jumps up and down making grunting noises while bringing his hands simultaneously down with the jump. Hard to describe but we have it on video. Other kids don't do that and have found other ways to express their excitement or anxiety.
3. We have also noticed a fear of noises that make him run away. Specialist hearing tests show that his hears normally and does not show an oversensitivity to sounds. We have recently discovered that it is not the sound that he fears it is the anticipation of the sound that scares him. eg The sound of a starter pistol worries him at the athletics track to the point that he doesn't want to compete with other tiny tots. Even when it is explained that the starter pistol is used with older kids, he still refuses.

He plays at home with us and his younger brother without problems, however in the social context of a preschool he switches off. If these things are in the relm of your expertise we would appreciate strategies we can try that will help him to better express himself in school and better deal with anxiety.

Thanks

[Myrna Libby, Ph.D., BCBA]

I would follow-up the teacher's concern by talking first with my pediatrician.  What I really think you should be seeking is a team evaluation of your son to rule out any developmental issues.The I would seek the services of a speech/language pathologist to help with the language issues and a professional certified in Applied Behavior Analysis to evaluate the issues associated with excitement and noise.  I am basing these recommendations on the apparent fact that you have other children and notice signficiant differences in this child's manner of expressing himself and interacting.  You can find certified behavior analysts in your area by going to www.bcba.com or googling BCBA.