unclear speech and f for th

[labyrinthine]

my ds had excellent early speech and communication skills and extensive vocabulary.He had periods of stammering age 3/4/5off and on usually if tired or with colds.
The last couple of years his speech seems less clear generally this is worse with colds and certain mispronunciations persist like f for th,or d for th.

Idon't want to ask for salt referral only to feel daft as he may just be unclear due to front teeth changing,heavy colds.
i asked for hearing test as his hearing is down with colds and fluid has been noticed in the drum during colds but on the day of his test his hearing was excellent and i felt a bit of a fusspot and /or fraud!

The unclearness sounds very blocked up and like a heavy cold he does get hayfever and asthma.

He also repeats bits of sentences and has to find words,i don't know if this is related to disfluency connected to his former stammering or not.

He appears to be daydreaming quite a lot compared to preschool and not listening.Altho i expect this is due to his age and not being as interested in what mummy is saying i think i am getting a bit worked up that his speech has regressed in some way,this i know is probably anxiety and me not seeing him as much as he is in f/t school.

Please could someone give me an idea if this is valid,or will he grow out of the f for th in time[i have taught him th ]

any mums with similar experience or salts if one reads this,thanks

btw he is now 7 in yr 2 he can read well.

words of wisdom?

It sounds like he is a completely normal 7 year old. DD is in year 2 and most of the children get a little lazy with their pronounciation as they pick things up from school friends.

DD still says some words wrong Cogram instead of Programme. Sertry instead on conservatory. It's just laziness at this age and certainly not a reason to ask for a SALT referal in an otherwise bright child.

Maybe he's a little aware of saying things correctly for you and that makes him nervous. If he needed a SALT referral then the school would definitely let you know.

Hope that helps a little.

By the way, On re-reading my post, it sounds like I used the word 'normal' wrong. I know some people don't like that word because it implies that someone with speech problems is abnormal. That wasn't my intention. I use it in the sense of: A lot of children with no special education needs have a problem with certain speech sounds or mispronounciation at his age.

I had no language or speech sound problems whatsoever - but couldn't do "f" and "th" consistently correctly at age 7. And still struggle with "th" and "ph" - became a problem as they are separately letters in ancient greek which I learnt at school, otherwise never an issue. But - I would follow up your concern about clarity of speech - have you spoken to his teacher about it yet? May be worth discussing further with GP as well in case there's any ENT type reason for it.

Wouldn't worry.
I'm a SALT and it's no reason to see one.
Just point out to him that he needs to speak more clearly and concentrate more.

You need moondog - hopefully she'll your thread. I used to stammer quite badly and also had problems with th/f. I needed speech therapy to sort out the stammer but am fine now (unless under stress.) I still have to concentrate on th/f - but I don't think that's as difficult to correct. Don't worry - he'll be fine.

x post moondog!

thanks girls thats brilliant,perspective was exactly what i needed