Ammon is going to start preschool the beginning of April as a child with a Speech and Language Disability.

Being a former special education teacher it is sort of bitter sweet for me.  Sweet in that he gets free preschool (SCORE)!  But bitter because I am kind of disappointed that my child has problems.  Please don't read the last sentence out of context.

Ammon is my first and so far all of his cousins are "normal".  I guess what my problem is that I don't want family and friends judging him because of it.  Being a kid is hard enough with bullies and stuff in the schools and I don't want my son to be ridiculed by others.

Am I overreacting and getting way too far ahead of myself?  He has not even started, but I am already anxious about how people will treat him.  There is a good chance that he will be fine by the time Kindergarten starts (his problem is with his pronunciation of words).

Anyway, has anyone had a similar experience with their child? 

My  son Daniel who is now in the second grade.  Went to a pre-school for his developmental and language problems.  Let me tell you, the experience we had was just wonderful.  The children accepted him for him.  I wouldn't have changed it for the world.  Don;t worry he will be alright.

We're in the same boat with needing speech therapy.  Hopefully we'll start with in the next two weeks.   It will most likely continue into preschool under the same circumstances as you.  The way I look at it is, most of the speech problems clear up fairly quickly.  So I think everything will be ok before the kids get old enough to notice a huge difference.  As for anyone else, just surround your family with the people that love you no matter what.  If there's someone giving you grief or altering the way they act around you because of this, it's probably not someone you want to associate with anyway.

I have the same fear Valorie-Nolan goes to a regular preschool, but has his therapist come in, they will take 4 or 5 kids so it doesn't allienate Nolan but still gives him the attention he needs. The one thing I have heard time and time again that helps me is Nolan  is getting the help he needs. So many kids enter the school system without early intervention.  we are doing what we can now to help Nolan instead of when it might be too late. I have seen so much change in Nolan, we had a great experience and I hope you do too! 

We are down to 6 weeks until Rivers starts preschool.  2 days a week he will go all day.  I am so excited for him, but nervous, not sure how he will do following a schedule all day long.  I'm excited because I think he will really benefit from the routine a couple days a week!

i was in speech therapy before i started school and i think i was in it till about third grade after i started school. i was never picked on for it or treated differently. the reason i had to take it was i was stuttering my brain was working faster than my mouth hehe and i also had trouble with some letters like rs thats the only one i can remember though hehe.

So he stared last Monday and he seems to really like it there.  He goes Monday, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 1/2 hours each.  His teacher is great and he gets to work with a speech therapist in the classroom too.

I know being a former special education teacher I should have brought this up in the IEP meeting, but I feel a little but weird about him being in a classroom where there are only students with special needs (i.e. Downs, autism, etc.).  He only has a speech delay.  Is that going to be a good thing for him to not be with regular ed kids? 

Personally I think how YOU react and treat him  ie showing fear or nervousness or just treating him as perfectly normal  will make all the difference . He is learning how to accept kids who are differant and that in itself is positive... Also  I dont think  its abnormal for kids to mispronounce words  ... while therapy  does help, speech tends to clear up  more they talk with peeps... Try not to worry  You are a great mom  but kids  that young dont seem to even notice that stuff as rule ... Older ,  whole diff ball game ...

THere is  a huge difference between mispronouncing and a for real speech problem... if ppl can no t understand you that is an issue you need to be able to comunicate your needs...

I think its also great Val that he is in a class room full of children with special needs, like holly said it will help him be more excepting of others...

However...I would worry if the children he shared a classroon with had offensive behaviors... like combativeness, or screaming consenstently.... as young as Ammon is I would be  concerend that it might be the monkey see monkey do thing. But if the children are a peace loving group..then let him stay... I'm sure the teachers...as you know have a plan of action when a child gets out of hand and gets combative or is harming self or others... talk with the teachers and see what they do... Get the best you can out of this experience Val!

Most of the most important thoughts and concerns come after an IEP meeting.  There is alot of info coming at you, it is easy to miss somethings.  Tell the teacher/thearapist your concerns.