Speech and language therapy will develop a client’s language skills and help them develop coping procedures and supervision of their lisp. This can only result in a client becoming more self-confident and therefore more fluent in their reproduction of Speech. A client will also be able to change how they produce a particular speech sound. Speech and language therapy can be incredibly beneficial to everyone who has a lisp. Speech and language therapy will 100% reduce a patient’s stress and anxiety while increasing their confidence. This will open more work and social opportunities for the individual as their Speech continues to improve. There are many different organizations in Australia that provide support for individuals with speech disorders. Still, our highly skilled and trained speech pathologist can work with children and adults alike to treat anyone with a lisp.
What is a Lisp, and what Causes a Lisp?
A lisp is a vocalization mistake due to incorrect tongue placement for specific sounds such as “ ch, dz, s, sh, z “. There are two commonly known types of lisps Frontal Lisp and Lateral Lisp. A frontal lisp displayed when the tongue goes through the front teeth and creates a sound like the “th” sound for the s or z sound and is regarded to as an interdental lisp.
When air escapes from the sides or ends of the tongue, it is called a lateral lisp. This happens when the tongue is not high enough or tight enough in the mouth. The excessive air out the sides can make it sound “slushy”.
The cause of a “lisp” can be either psychological or physiological. There may be a medical reason someone has a lisp, or it could be more related to stress or trauma. It can be classified in this manner, but there is not a specific cause. Instead, it is due to habitual speech patterns and Speech development.
Treatment of a Lisp
Both lisps can be treated with articulation therapy. This teaches correct tongue placement and produces the sound in sentences, phrases, words. A lisp can be described as a regular method of speech production. It can vary in severity depending on the individual. An interdental or bilateral lisp is possible. Speech and language therapy will help many individuals to change the way they make certain speech sounds. Speech and language therapy can include evaluations, reports, reviews, and therapy programs. They also offer advice and training. A typical Speech and Language Therapy treatment for a lisp would include articulation therapy. While not in themselves a medical procedure, Lisp assessments are usually undertaken by speech and language therapists, speech therapists, or speech pathologists.
People, especially children younger than 10 years old, might not be able to correct their pronunciation if they do not know how it sounds. This awareness can be increased by speech therapists modelling correct and incorrect pronunciation and having your child speak in the correct manner. This technique can be used at home by parents or loved ones to reinforce correct pronunciation.
