Child's development concern

[ddz01]

I'm concerned with my son's development and behavioral problems. He is 33 months old, has vocabulary of about 50 words that only me and his mom can understand. We checked his hearing and everything is fine. We are bilingual and talking Croatian in our home. We read books to him in English and Croatian and he seems to enjoy that. Outside our home we talk English. Some speech therapist told us that it would be a waist of money and time to bring him in if we don't talk English to him all the time. Otherwise, he is making eye contact, seems to be interested in adults and other kids.

He is refusing potty. Sometimes he is aggressive with other kids and we occasionally get a note from a kindergarten teacher about pushing, biting and fighting with other kids. We contribute this mostly to his inability to communicate with others. He has tantrums that could last up to 45 minutes and it's very difficult to calm him down if he doesn't get what he wants.

He doesn't want to eat by himself and more often than not refuses food; not interested in toys except kicking ball and riding bicycle. He demands to be in center of attention and his bad behavioral escalates if our attention focuses on somebody/something else.

His behavior in public is troublesome and lately we been avoiding restaurants and church altogether.
What should we do? Should we be concerned?

[ddz01]

Thank you doctor! I'm trying to make an appointment in the hospital and will let you know the results. I really appreciate your reply.
Regards!
Don

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Yes, there is reason for concern. In several areas of his development (speech/language, impulse control, social) he is not keeping pace with what would be expected of his age. It would be wise to arrange a developmenatl evaluation. If you live in an area where you have access to a pediatric hospital, particularly a so-called teaching hospital, this should not be difficult to arrange.