Ds1 is 10 and has dyspraxia. He has a wide vocabulary and many many ideas, some of which are quite complex. He loves to talk and is confident when speaking. The problem is that his speech can be quite indistinct at times, both in terms of production and organisation. He often speaks very quickly, mumbles and 'swallows' words at the beginning and end of a sentence. The volume of his voice varies, so even if he starts speaking loudly, he can end up dropping his voice so much it's hard to hear. His sentences are sometimes quite muddled - sometimes because he assumes you know what he's talking about, so doesnt give context, sometimes because he struggles to find the right word or expression, and sometimes because he goes around the houses for ages before getting to the point. He also starts a sentences, abandons it, starts another etc. It's much worse when he's tired.
At the moment I am finding that I have to ask him to repeat about half of what he says, either because I can't hear it distinctly, or because I don't understand what he's talking about. He gets very frustrated ( and I do sometimes get impatient, which I know doesnt help). We have tried getting him to slow down, to think about what he wants to say before he says it, and this works when he repeats himself, but he doesn't remember (or can't do it) the next time.
Any ideas to help him? It has an impact on his relationships, because children aren't as patient and tend just to say 'What?' or walk off.