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Has anyone been through this stage? Please share your experience. We visited a speech therapist with…

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Has anyone been through this stage? Please share your experience. We visited a speech therapist with my child who is 2-3 years old (we got a referral from the follow-up care department; I gave birth at 32 weeks). He's been talking since he was 2, has a large vocabulary, but his speech quality is poor. We went through the PMPK (psycho-medical-pedagogical commission), and he was diagnosed with "FFN" (functional speech underdevelopment) and dysarthria. Today, we spoke with the kindergarten principal, and we don't know if there will even be a speech therapy group when he's 5. They said they'll assign a speech therapist when one is available, but they're all busy right now. She told me to submit an application to the department for a speech therapy group: the list of disorders only includes "severe speech impairments," and that's what they told me to choose. Now I'm sitting here wondering, is this really the right way? The wording "severe impairments" bothers me. My questions are simple: When were you assigned to a speech therapy group, and are you glad you transferred? A friend is scaring me, saying the group might have children with severe disabilities. She suggests it's better to stay in our current group and demand speech therapy sessions. Share your opinions, experienced moms.
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Svetlana Kovshova
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We were in a speech therapy group, but it didn't help. Even though the speech therapist was very engaged and we bought lots of materials, and she always presented at meetings, showing what the kids were doing and explaining everything in detail.
There are really some challenging kids in the group with behavioral issues. It's scary to look at them, and it's a mix of pity and frustration that the whole group suffers.
I don't even know if it's worth it or not...
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October 7, 2026, 12:09 PM
Svetlana Kovshova
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Svetlana Kovshova Always assigned homework too 😄
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October 7, 2026, 12:09 PM
Iglova Viktoriya
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It's better to stick with your own and go to a private one for individual classes.
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October 7, 2026, 12:09 PM
Yanina
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Svetlana Kovshova I'm not sure, we're in a regular group now, but I hope they'll assign a speech therapist. I'm also worried about the kids in the new group, what if they're difficult? There are few specialized groups, basically, kids with autism and other conditions, ADHD, everyone will go into such a group because there are no others in the neighborhood. And many don't bother traveling somewhere.
I've put myself on the waiting list for the speech therapy group for now, but I can back out later if I don't like it, right? 🫣
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October 7, 2026, 12:09 PM
Yanina
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Iglova Viktoriya We'll go to a private specialist too, but it wouldn't hurt to have one at the daycare. Our daycare has good speech therapists; friends have highly recommended them. They really worked with the kids, not just going through the motions.
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October 7, 2026, 12:12 PM
Svetlana Kovshova
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Svetlana Kovshova What if there are spots available 😄, otherwise they'll say, 'Sit in your own little corner, we're full.'
Well, I mean, even if they give you a speech therapist, it's not guaranteed to be effective.
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October 7, 2026, 12:12 PM
Kristina
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We have that wording, but our kindergarten has its own speech therapist. The sessions are individual, and it doesn't matter who has what issues, they don't overlap any more than usual.
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October 7, 2026, 12:15 PM
Iglova Viktoriya
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Iglova Viktoriya They might interfere. Why see two speech therapists? I was in the same situation as you, and the neurologist advised me to go to a private one and also attend a regular group.
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October 7, 2026, 12:18 PM
Lyana
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Transferring my child to a speech therapy kindergarten was one of my best decisions. All their speech impediments were corrected within a year, and they were prepared for school.
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October 7, 2026, 12:24 PM
Mariya Glebova
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The wording is always like that, even if you only focus on one sound.
I translated it and I'm very happy, they do a lot, we do homework, my child constantly tells me something new, the group itself is great.
An important point is that there are groups for speech impairments and groups for developmental delays. Well, in our case, they are all separate because the children are all golden. But definitely not in the developmental delay groups.
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October 7, 2026, 12:36 PM
Yanina
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Kristina We can do activities or we can move to the group (but only from 4 years old), there are only 7-10 kids there. Plus, there are many more activities. But we don't know what kind of kids will be in the group, of course. We'll just have to try and see.
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October 7, 2026, 12:36 PM
Kristina
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Kristina Well, our kids are all doing great and are pretty much on the same level.
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October 7, 2026, 12:36 PM
Yanina
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Svetlana Kovshova Yeah, it hasn't gotten any easier, we'll have to think some more...
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October 7, 2026, 12:39 PM
Inga
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My son is in a speech therapy group now. It's specifically for kids with "severe speech impairments." There aren't any "severe" kids here, just speech-impaired ones. Our speech group is for 5-year-olds.
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October 7, 2026, 12:48 PM
Yanina
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Inga They told me that if they get 5-7 four-year-olds, they'll form a group. If not, then only at age 5. It probably doesn't make much of a difference, really. The main thing is that the speech therapist will start working with them now.
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October 7, 2026, 12:51 PM
Anna
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That's right. They won't take them without it.
Yes, I've had four go through speech therapy groups. I'm glad about that
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October 7, 2026, 12:54 PM
Yanina
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Anna thanks)
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October 7, 2026, 12:54 PM
Inga
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Inga We also worked with a speech therapist for a year before speech group, and we're still working with one, just less frequently.
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October 7, 2026, 12:57 PM
Irina
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Svetlana Kovshova kids with ASD also attend regular groups)
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October 7, 2026, 12:57 PM
Natalya
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Let me tell you how it works for us. Kids are actually only admitted to the speech therapy group from age 5 with a PMPK (psychological, medical, and pedagogical commission) conclusion and only with speech impairments. The speech therapist primarily works with children in the preparatory group. Since we have 1.5 speech therapist positions, 0.5 position is allocated to the speech therapy group – there are 3 sessions per week for 12 children. The remaining children are covered by 1 position. A speech therapist position is 4 hours a day, which is about 20-23 children per position. This covers children in the preparatory group and those who have a PMPK conclusion but attend a mainstream group, if it's stated in the recommendations: "sessions with a speech therapist." In that case, they are obligated to take children for sessions starting from age 3. You can go through the PMPK process, but you don't have to attend the speech therapy group.
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October 7, 2026, 1:00 PM
Yanina
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It's a mixed bag here, some people get really lucky and love it. Others not so much. The good thing is, there are groups in the area for kids with special needs, like non-verbal kids. But if parents want to send them to speech therapy, there's not much you can do.
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October 7, 2026, 1:00 PM
Yanina
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Svetlana Kovshova I know they have the right. But it's another thing how they and other children feel about it. A crowd of kids with one caregiver. It's physically hard to keep track, and the program is for neurotypical children. It's still much better for children with special needs to attend a special group if one is available.
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October 7, 2026, 1:03 PM
Natalya
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Anna Levels 1 and 2 are related to the TNR.
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October 7, 2026, 1:03 PM
Olya Gulyuk
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We have a speech therapy group for kids 5 and up. We're also prescribed "TNR" (which doesn't really mean anything specific). Everyone talks pretty well, but each child has trouble with different sounds. Daily sessions are a lot of work, which is why the group isn't for kids under 3. If you want extra help, you can pay for private sessions. For example, our kindergarten offers paid speech therapy sessions in a club – they have a dedicated speech therapist for it. We attended a similar club from ages 3 to 5.
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October 7, 2026, 1:09 PM
Anna
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Anna Yes.
But they won't take us with ONR. Even though they understand everything. There are too many people wanting in.
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October 7, 2026, 1:12 PM
Yanina
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Natalya We've already gone through it. The PMPK (Psychological, Medical, and Pedagogical Commission) concluded that speech therapy sessions before school are sufficient, meaning we don't need to go through PMPK again. I've submitted an application to get a speech therapist.
I've now put my child on the waiting list for a speech therapy group at my own kindergarten. If there isn't one, that's okay. They can just attend speech therapy at the kindergarten. Or maybe really from age 5, we'll wait. The speech therapist recommended the PMPK, but I don't personally see a serious issue with their speech. On the other hand, a speech therapist definitely won't make things worse, which is why we went through PMPK. I was also hesitant at first, but the speech therapist insisted.
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October 7, 2026, 1:21 PM
chernika
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My son attends a speech therapy group for children with speech impairments. Out of 15 kids, only 1 has a severe condition. I don't regret it; it was one of the best decisions I made for my son. The teachers and speech therapist were great and worked a lot with the children.
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October 7, 2026, 1:21 PM
Yanina
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chernika So, despite all that, everything is still okay? Maybe I'm worrying for nothing. In our regular group, there are kids with ADHD. They also make life difficult for other children.
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October 7, 2026, 1:21 PM
chernika
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chernika Oh, that happens. It feels like every regular group has someone with autism or ADHD. Our logo group was no different from the regular ones. Everything's fine though!)
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October 7, 2026, 1:27 PM
Svetlana Kovshova
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Svetlana Kovshova Yes, my daughter's teacher kept locking this boy in the bathroom 🤦 The mom is understandably upset. When you just go to listen to what's happening, you can hear this boy screaming wildly, and nothing helps. I feel sorry for the boy being locked up, I feel sorry for his mom who has to work because there's no dad, and I feel sorry for my daughter who has a sensitive psyche and has to see all this and accept it as normal....
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October 7, 2026, 1:27 PM
shilkina zhanna
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chernika Listen, kids with ADHD have historically been around longer than neurotypical ones. It's NOT an illness. They always learned with everyone in regular classrooms, there just wasn't a name for it back then. And you had them in your class. Remember: doodling in the margins while the teacher explains; rocking in their chairs; chewing on pen and pencil caps; running down the hallways; fidgeting during lessons, etc. Statistically, a large portion of emergency responders are actually those with ADHD.
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October 7, 2026, 1:45 PM
Irina
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Svetlana Kovshova Our special groups are full. My daughter has an individual tutor (she doesn't interact with the teacher).
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October 7, 2026, 1:51 PM
Mariya Glebova
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Mariya Glebova That's right, children with special care needs shouldn't be in general groups or with speech therapists; they have different programs.
You should check the kindergarten's website right away; they usually have descriptions of all the groups. Our kindergarten is combined, and each group, age, and educational program is detailed there.
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October 7, 2026, 1:54 PM

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