Do you speak?

[baglady]

Is it at all possible that the docent was just clumsily trying to establish whether OP's son is nonverbal? A museum docent is likely to regularly encounter visitors with speech issues -- autism, hearing impairment, developmental delay -- and confronted by a slow-to-respond 9-year-old, might jump to the conclusion that he has a speech issue. She said "Do you speak?" not "Whassamatta, ya deaf?" or "Cat got your tongue?" or some similar snarky remark.

But since her wording and tone were sufficiently off-putting to cause the OP to take offense, and many PPs to read her question as rude, a course in Tact 101 is probably in order.

[Mikayla]

To me, this is one of the most black and white questions I've seen here.  This woman was astoundingly rude, and not just because of the chance Roe's kid might have been non-verbal.  The other issue is that a kid who thinks and deliberates before opening his mouth should be *encouraged* to do so.  Why is this a bad trait? 

Of course, the evil side of me could offer up:

Terrorist Faux Tour Guide:  "Do you speak"?
Protective Mama Bear:  "Do you think"?

Ugh.  People are so strange.

And Roe, I wouldn't read too much into that response.  It's the day before Thanksgiving, and the human acknowledging it may not even have gotten it into the proper hands yet.