My DS is coming up to 4YO.
He is a lovely child and at home with us he talks non-stop. His vocabulary is pretty good for his age, he can hold his own in a conversation and is generally very easy to understand. He has a very active imagination and tells us stories a lot of the time, plus he recalls events and tells us all about them with his own spin. He is very stubborn and quite spirited if he isn't happy with something though. On these occasions he will go mute.
DS is shy and when he meets new people or anyone he hasn't seen in a while he does not speak to them. It can take anywhere from ten minutes to an hour for him to warm up.
The main issue is that he has pretty much stopped talking to CM. He'll be chatting away with me all the way to her house but then will stop as soon as we arrive, not even answering simple questions with more than a nod. When I pick him up he starts talking again straight away, often before we've left, but CM says he has barely spoken with her all day. I know that she always makes an effort to get him to speak, but I think she is becoming frustrated by the situation now. CM referred him to the speech and language team, which resulted in a few assessments and visits from HV - they all deemed that he is just shy but they will keep an eye on him. They have been coining the term "selective mutism".
DS has recently started attending preschool and the feedback from them is that he is shy and doesn't say much but they don't push him and eventually he will find something he wants to talk about and they can't shut him up!
Sorry - this is all very long winded. I suppose I am just wanting to see if anyone else is in this position, whether anyone has come out of the other side, things that helped encourage DCs to talk etc. Is he just going to grow out of this or should I be concerned...?