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Problems with speech - clarity and pronunciation

4 replies

Speechdelayworry · 08/04/2022 18:45

My nephew has recently turned 3 - he was very delayed with speech and sees a SALT but it has come on a lot. He can now talk, although it’s not the same as his peers in fluency etc, more like a just turned 2 year old. His nursery have done a ECHP and he has govt funding but I’m getting concerned about what’s actually going on - my brother is quite a bit in denial. There is not much I can do but be there, I’m just wondering for my own piece of mind as a large part of the problem, aside from DN acting a lot younger than his age, is the way his speech sounds. I don’t know how to explain it (I hope someone knows what I mean) but he is not able to speak clearly, his voice is very thick and difficult to understand.

Does anyone know what this could be a sign of? The SALT having mentioned it but I suspect they are more focussed on the content of the speech having improved. There are also concerns re behaviour and gait.

OP posts:
roughtyping · 09/04/2022 17:46

Hello,

Worth mentioning to SLT whether they think there is a physical reason for the 'thick' sounding voice.

Speechdelayworry · 09/04/2022 18:30

@roughtyping

Thank you for replying. Do you know what some physical causes might be? Or any other reasons?

OP posts:
roughtyping · 09/04/2022 19:00

There are lots, for example my son has very hoarse and nasal speech - when he was younger he missed the beginning and end of lots of words and struggles to say some sounds now. The SLT noticed a pattern and he had an X-ray as they thought he might have a 'hidden cleft', his palate is fine but he has a 'deep nasopharynx' (there's lots more space at the back of his throat than there should be) so air escapes down his nose. This is one of lots of different physical issues that can happen. A SLT would be able to look for specifics - I only really know about my son's issue!

TheTraumaClub · 15/04/2022 18:10

Hi OP,
I've been on this journey for years and I'm glad to hear you got support when he was so young. My local authority refused to see my daughter until she was 4. She is now 7 and her speech is still poor. She is on her second round of speech therapy. My experience is that the therapists don't have any ideas or training around why these things happen, just how to solve it. I believe that S&L difficulties are very much linked to other things and my daughter has other things wrong. No professional seems to want to put the links together.
It's incredibly frustrating. Keep fighting for him!

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