High-pitched voice in a seven-year-old with speech delay

[Tinakilly]

Hi, my DS (7) speaks with a very high-pitched voice. So much so that he has started to get comments from other children about why he speaks funny and they are laughing at him. He then gets angry and this causes more teasing. Has anyone's child been similar - any advice. He has a speech delay so clearly we are just so happy that's he is speaking but I worry about how these other comments affect him and wondering if there is anything I can do to help him. Also if anyone has experienced similar? Did their intonation change? Thanks

Is he autistic OP? Speech delay and a high pitched voice are both possible indicators. You need to speak to his teacher, it is not ok for him to be teased like that, poor thing that must be absolutely miserable for him. The teacher needs to come down hard on it asap if this is happening at school.

Is it all the time or only in certain situations. DS age 7 can speak in a high pitched voice when he is feeling anxious/unsure. Unfortunately school have not been very helpful as they see it as playing up because even he calls it putting on his "baby voice".

He has no Autism dx but we suspect it.

No diagnosis but on the pathway - he's high functioning and very intelligent, so is aware that they are laughing at him. I have spoken to the school and they are going to address it. We are delighted his speech has come on so well, he also speaks very polite and nearly posh (which doesn't help as we are not posh or in a posh area) but for us we just love to hear him speak and we just think of it as another wee adorable quirk. But so worried this teasing will effect his confidence with speaking and his ability to build friendships. Although in an ideal world sthere should be understanding of difference, it often doesn't happen with a class of young children, who can be very cruel.

It does flucuate to be honest, but I'd say 75% of the time it is high-pitched but other times it isn't. It's not even when he is anxious or unsure it is the majority of his speech. I did read where allergies can cause a tightening of the vocal cords and this can result in a high pitch voice. He also had trouble with his ears and had a perforated ear drum and I wonder if that affected how he processes sounds. It sounds awful but if he could use the lower voice in majority I just think it would make his life a little easier and isn't that all we want for them. I am hoping maybe someone has had a child similar and can say that it improves as I worry about him so much.

At this age it might be helpful to speak to the teacher and ask them to explain to the class that DS found learning to speak hard and it can be more difficult for him than for other children, and that might be part of why his voice sounds different, but isn't it lovely that he can talk to you all now, and perhaps some exploration of how it would be difficult if he couldn't talk at all. Most NT 7yos have never met a non verbal or preverbal speech delayed older child and that kind of thing won't be in their experience so it probably won't have crossed their mind.

IME 7yos are not necessarily cruelly malicious in the way that slightly older children can sometimes be. They just are very much wired to go with a crowd and if one child has picked up on the idea that it is funny to mock people for being different (which we would all love no child to think, but realistically that attitude exists in the world and children do pick up on it) then often that is how this kind of thing starts. That child points it out, gets loads of laughs/attention for it and so repeats it and the other children just take it for granted that it is funny because everyone is laughing. But they are still young enough that an adult they trust explaining why someone looks/sounds/behaves differently often changes their perspective and it might stop or reduce the teasing. I find that this kind of approach, where you lead with curiosity and the observation that they have noticed that the other child is different (rather than treating it as bullying, even though it is) is usually better than a punitive or chastising response because if children feel like they are being told off sometimes they switch off to what the message actually is, and the response becomes "hide this behaviour from adults" rather than "think about why this behaviour is bad".

Or if you feel comfortable you could even volunteer to speak to the class yourself.

Thank you, I am hoping this is the approach the teacher is going to take. I got the impression she was going to explain about his ears and hearing and how it can affect his voice. My heart breaks for him, as I know how he struggled to learn to speak, if they only knew how many hours of speech therapy he has undergone to get to where he is. Thank you for your lovely reply. xo