Preschool says son needs speech therapy

[Anonymous]

My son turned 4 a few months ago. To me his speech is great, I understand everything he says and he can talk my head off, saying a wide range of vocabulary such as "generator" and other odd things, basically every word he can say, with a few sounds like his Rs being wrong.
His teacher mentioned that he does his workbooks so quickly and doesn't need any guidance where as the other kids take longer, probably threw this in there to make me feel better before the blow of "he is so smart, his speech isn't all there but up here with his brain he is so incredibly smart" I asked if she thought he needed speech therapy and she said he for sure does. This is a private preschool. His teachers who have had him since age 2 have been saying he's talking so well now and haven't mentioned speech therapy, but she seemed much more concerned.
I just hesitate because when I took my daughter to the public school district for evaluation they said she was fine. She went to the same school as my son and was 4 at the time when they recommended it. They told me private preschools tend to be more intense about speech because they have higher expectations (I am in a state that has free preschool for lower middle class and under). Our school district has a lot of English learners, and is title 1 for elementary schools, so maybe the other kids seem comparatively worse?
I should add my girlfriend who's only hung out with him for a few weeks has mentioned that she doesn't understand everything he says. But his dad and I do, and our family members do. I was also a nanny and he seems on par with the 4 year old boys I nannied for. Should I just take him in to the district? Or to the doctor?

[Anonymous]

Also, didn't mean to sound classist by adding the info about title 1 etc...for reference I am low income. Though I have a college degree etc so I would think I've been able to give him whatever I could as far as a head start in speech.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry if I missed it, but is the speech therapy to correct some sounds being pronounced incorrectly like Rs? It sounds like his vocab and ability to speak are fine so are they concerned about a speech impediment or the like?

[Anonymous]

My 4 year old is doing speech therapy because he could not pronounce certain sounds. He also does not seem as smart as your son. My son goes to a private preschool and will head to private school. The teachers never said anything, but we thought he needed it. The evaluation at the beginning put him at 48% so pretty average, but like you said, in these fancy preschools average is much higher.
I think speech therapy has been great for my son

[Anonymous]

It wouldn't hurt to get him evaluated. Sometimes parents can understand their own children better than teachers/strangers, etc. do.

You are used to the way he talks so you can probably understand him the most. I am not saying he needs it or doesn't but if he does it's best to get it started when they are young.

[Anonymous]

It would not hurt to get him evaluated. Don’t judge his speech based on what you can understand because parents (almost) always understand their kids.

[Anonymous]

Idk what you should do but preschool mentioned it to me and I got it for my son for articulation reasons. The earlier you start, the shorter you have to do it.

And, he did not qualify for free through the county. I paid out of pocket.

I have experience working in public schools and you have to be VERY far behind to qualify for free.

He is now 11 and in FCPS AAP, and also got his adenoids removed around age 3.5. None of this was related to how smart he is.

[Anonymous]

It would not hurt but in my experience i waited until my son was a bit older and still not saying his R sounds correctly - and we went to a private speech therapist who got him to articulate well within a couple of months since the public school system will not see kids for articulation issues.In our case, waiting probably shortened how long it took to correct the articulation since he was 7 and could understand and do exactly what the speech therapist was showing him. Also, some kids end up correcting it on their own so our pediatrician said to wait until age 7 to see if it corrects on its own, and that for purely articulation issues, it was fine to wait for speech therapy.

[Anonymous]

I wish we'd gotten our kid in speech therapy for articulation earlier. She's 7 and still says Ts for Ks, for instance, and it can make her hard to understand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son turned 4 a few months ago. To me his speech is great, I understand everything he says and he can talk my head off, saying a wide range of vocabulary such as "generator" and other odd things, basically every word he can say, with a few sounds like his Rs being wrong.
His teacher mentioned that he does his workbooks so quickly and doesn't need any guidance where as the other kids take longer, probably threw this in there to make me feel better before the blow of "he is so smart, his speech isn't all there but up here with his brain he is so incredibly smart" I asked if she thought he needed speech therapy and she said he for sure does. This is a private preschool. His teachers who have had him since age 2 have been saying he's talking so well now and haven't mentioned speech therapy, but she seemed much more concerned.
I just hesitate because when I took my daughter to the public school district for evaluation they said she was fine. She went to the same school as my son and was 4 at the time when they recommended it. They told me private preschools tend to be more intense about speech because they have higher expectations (I am in a state that has free preschool for lower middle class and under). Our school district has a lot of English learners, and is title 1 for elementary schools, so maybe the other kids seem comparatively worse?
I should add my girlfriend who's only hung out with him for a few weeks has mentioned that she doesn't understand everything he says. But his dad and I do, and our family members do. I was also a nanny and he seems on par with the 4 year old boys I nannied for. Should I just take him in to the district? Or to the doctor?

What are the preschool professional's (the one who is suggesting this) qualifications, professional background, educational background, etc?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It would not hurt but in my experience i waited until my son was a bit older and still not saying his R sounds correctly - and we went to a private speech therapist who got him to articulate well within a couple of months since the public school system will not see kids for articulation issues.In our case, waiting probably shortened how long it took to correct the articulation since he was 7 and could understand and do exactly what the speech therapist was showing him. Also, some kids end up correcting it on their own so our pediatrician said to wait until age 7 to see if it corrects on its own, and that for purely articulation issues, it was fine to wait for speech therapy.

Public schools will provide free speech services for articulation. I had no trouble getting services for my kid even in the mad post-Covid rush for services.

[Anonymous]

My son goes to speech therapy and at that age they basically play intensely with the child. (My kid laughs a lot and loves it.)

Unless, it’s a financial hardship, there’s no harm. Why not?

[Anonymous]

Why would you not go? You can understand him because you're his mother. Mispronounced R is very common. Does he tend to sit on this knees with his legs out to the side, like a W? There's a linkage there, interestingly enough. (https://sayandplayfamily.com/occupational-therapy/w-sitting-and-articulation#:~:text=From%20a%20speech%20perspective%2C%20a,the%20jaw%2C%20lips%20and%20tongue.)

The earlier you go and have it checked the easier it is to fix. And speech therapy has absolutely nothing to do with how verbal, or how many words, or how smart. My son at age 4 was fluent in 2 languages because that's what we speak at home, but needed speech therapy for R/W confusion. (Think "rock" sounded like "wok" ) It was only in one language though.

[Anonymous]

You could just mention to the pediatrician at the next visit...get another outside opinion. I will add that my niece (college age now) has a lisp. Her parents do not hear it. My whole family are very aware of it and wish for her sake it had been taken care of when she was little.

[Anonymous]

You need to learn how to take feedback and advice from professionals better. OF COURSE you should follow up on this.