A couple of days ago I met the mom of one of the little girls my daughter plays with at preschool. My daughter and this child seem to get a long great despite hearing stories of the girl hitting other kids and not sharing. Apparently she likes my daughter and is nice to her, so I guess all is well.
When I met her mom, she asked me if I had noticed her daughter’s speech problem. I told her that I hadn’t really spoken to her daughter other than a simple “hello” and therefore, I hadn’t noticed. Strangely, my daughter did mention to me that very morning as we were getting dressed for school that she couldn’t always understand her little friend, but I chose not to mention it. This mom proceeded to tell me that her daughter had endured some hearing loss when little due to illness and her speech development had suffered greatly. She stated that sometimes her child gets angry and acts out by hitting etc. when she can’t get her point across to others. She said that her daughter was attending speech therapy but that she was progressing slowly. She had already made the decision to hold her back from kindergarten for one more year if she didn’t improve to her satisfaction. This mom appears to be concerned that her child might be teased and have too many communication issues with her teacher and classmates.
I also have a friend with a daughter the same age as the other little girl and my child. She also has a huge speech problem. My entire family and her own family have extreme difficulty understanding her. She attends daycare and not preschool and I am unaware of any problems that have arisen because of her speech. Her parents have decided to do nothing about it at this point. No speech and language intervention, nothing. They are riding on the hopes that being around the other kids will bring her speech up to what it should be.
This little girl is not my child, and I have pretty much kept my mouth shut in this situation unless her mom brings it up. It is driving me crazy that they have chosen to do nothing. I have worked in special education for years, and I have worked with countless children with speech impediments. I know how quickly and easily a lot of speech issues can be resolved, especially when corrected at an early age. Do they want their child to enter into kindergarten with the knowledge that the other kids will not be able to talk to her? Aren’t they worried that she will be teased? Don’t they want to at least have her tested and talk to someone about correcting it? Why do they want her pulled out of class for speech when there is a good chance that it can be corrected before she starts school? Why are they choosing to do nothing?
Maybe I am wrong. Maybe it is no big deal. What would you do if it were your four year old?
thanks for you advice on my cosleeping post. this is a tough situation but i would definitely do something if my child had an issue. it is the same thing with braces. something so available and relatively affordable, our kids deserve the chance to get the best start (straight teeth are important!) and yet i have known many parents that only have their daughters get braces and not sons or not get them at all. we owe it to our kids to get them the help they need to flourish and be healthy.
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