How to help DS with his th’s?

[notevenat20]

DS is 9 and pronounces all th’s as f’s. I would like to help him fix this. I think he would really like some help too. What is the best way to do this? Are there websites or people who can help?

When ds went to speech therapy they told him to put his tongue out to do the 'th' sound - he was only 3 or 4 so they said it was a 'cheeky' sound as you need to stick your tongue out!

I have no experience with speech therapy, but would have thought it'd be quite easy to explain the concept to a 9-year-old, assuming they can spell quite well.

If it's spelled with 'th', stick your tongue out (as the previous poster has suggested) to make the 'th' sound. If it's spelled with 'f' or 'ph', make the 'f' sound that he's used to making.

I'm sure it's a habit that is quite hard to break after all these years, but it's a good sign that he wants to correct it.

It would be interesting to hear what a speech therapist would suggest for this sort of age.

This looks quite useful.

speechbloguk.com/teaching-f-vs-th/

Is he able to make the right sound if he tries? Once he can, it’s about practicing regularly - little and often. Pinterest is often good for speech therapy games.

Lots of practicing I say, really focussing on how the sound should look too. If still a problem maybe look at some Speech therapy? xx

Look at the website mommyspeechtherapy which goes through the stages step by step and also provides resources.
Basically you check that 1. he can hear the difference between th and f, then 2. he practices saying th on its own, 3. Saying th with a vowel (thee, thar, thay, eeth, ooth etc.) 4. Saying th in a word, 5. Saying th in a sentence, 6. Saying th in a paragraph/short story.
Each stage needs practice, 5 minutes a day is plenty.
Incidentally what does he say for the voiced th sound? I.e. the sound in the? Does he say ve or de?