4 yo unclear speech - no other problems

[SPAGspag]

My 4yo has very unclear speech - he uses few consonant sounds other than B and D. He’s had some Speech therapy on the NHS and nursery are also helping him. I’m concerned about him starting school next year and not being understood.

there are no other concerns, he’s otherwise very bright, and he’s had a hearing test.

anyone else had similar with their child and when/how did their speech improve?

Is he still talking like that after the SaLT sessions and did he pass his hearing test?

It must be worrying for you

Yes, he passed his hearing test. Tbh the NHS speech therapy was rubbish, so I’m not surprised it hasn’t helped, but nursery are doing 1-2-1 sessions with him and they have an external provider doing drama-led phonics (which he loves).

he did have a bad stammer but that has definitely improved significantly

I’m glad that the stammer improved, if nothing else. It might be worth doing the progress checker from Speech & Language UK as if it says that he needs some support, they will then email you some resources.

Don’t be afraid to ask the HV for another referral back to SaLT either.

Thank you. He’s already “in the system” as such and receiving support, I was just hopeful that another parent may come along with a similar experience! As I’m baffled as to why he has such difficulty making the correct sounds

It is better to get him checked for a speech therapy and starting this early would help to regulate his speech production.

As I said, he’s already been assessed, had a hearing test and a first round of speech therapy. He’s receiving 1-2-1 sessions at nursery as well as weekly phonics class.

I’m merely interested to know if anyone else child had similar speech issues but with no clear underlying cause, and how it panned out.

No, sorry. My DC2 spoke late and then got consonants mixed up, so think Cossee instead of Coffee. But this was sorted pretty quickly with some individual SaLT through the NHS.

She did have problems with phonics and I regret not getting her screened for dyslexia earlier.

She now has a diagnosis of AuDHD.