Normal 6 Year Old Speech?

Ask his teachers -- not only his main teacher but if he has teachers for things that excite him, like gym class or music -- if they also notice this, and if they perceive his speech as being different from what they hear all day, every day. Teachers can be really good at knowing if a child is typical or not compared to peers at the same age and stage. If his teachers aren't concerned or say yes, this is typical for a child this age, then don't worry about it. If they say it's noticeable that he is sometimes unintelligible, then ask them if an evaluation by a speech therapist would be a good idea.

This might be a case where the issue is not a speech problem at all but just an issue of his being excited, and the solution may not be speech therapy but instead, working with him on controlling his excitement enough to make himself understood by slowing down.

Overall, it is typical for some children, even up to ages older than six, to speed up their speech, stumble over words etc. if they are very excited. They key here is that it's happening in circumstances when he's just so excited by something, or by the story he's getting to tell, that he can't get the words out fast enough - he's got so much in his brain he wants to tell you. If you're still concerned, get him evaluated by a therapist but first I'd talk with the teachers who see him and other kids his age every day. It's worth noting that, as you put it, he's "perfectly intelligible in most situations."

Improving your son's speech clarity when he gets excited and while telling stories are definitely areas that an SLP can help with. Talk with your child's teacher about the referral process for their school SLP.
Once an SLP begins to evaluate your child's speech-language skills and to talk with his teacher, there could be more skills that your child would also benefit from working on to improve their speech clarity, as well as future literacy and academic success. Excellent question! ~K.

I think so ...

I sometimes have to get my kids to repeat themselves when they get excited. If it's a real problem (which we've had also) it tends to be more consistent, at least in our experience. Like trouble saying the same sound.

I think what you are describing is them trying to think before they speak, and they can't always do that so it comes out jumbled.

My little one sometimes trails off about 5 times after the first few words ... and I stand there patiently. I just tell her to take a sec, think about what she wants to tell me and then let her proceed.

Mine seemed to grow out of it :) Good luck

you can ask the teacher if s/he has any concerns about your child's speech. If s/he brings up any concern then ask if s/he would refer speech therapy to the district or the office. it will be easier to get speech therapy in public school with the teachers referral. If not, and you are still bothered by it, there are online helps, and at home exercises to try before going down the private speech therapy route (it is rather costly). More than likely, if the district agrees to provide the service, they might recommend testing him for other things, because they will have to draft an IEP for your son. Hope this helps.

What does his doctor say?

It is very hard to get a speech referral if you wait until 6.

If strangers can generally understand him I wouldn't worry but you could pursue private therapy if you think it will help

It is important to see if 'strangers' understand him.

Most family members and close friends develop a skill to understand people with speech issues.

Since you are having a hard time, that could mean that outsiders (classmates, teachers) are having an extra hard time understanding him.

It is hard to qualify for special services in public schools (the speech issues would need to be pretty bad). You could get speech therapy at a private practice. Maybe your insure will cover it.

I think he's probably fine. You can put a but in the speech pathologist's ear at school for him/her to give him an evaluation, but that sounds like an excited kid to me.

This is what I refer to as the stream of consciousness phase, where every story is one big long chapter filled with ands where they barely take a breath. he's just so excited to share with you that everything tumbles out all at once, niagara falls style. i kind of miss it actually. anyway. i say completely normal but as always, if your mommy alarm is going off, an evaluation can't hurt anything. :-) S.

It's normal. nothing wrong with saying "hey, wait, slow down a little"... that's what parenting is about.