Written by: Anna Pasternak / Lisp & Articulation / December 09, 2020 / 8 minutes read

As speech pathologists we are often working with children and adults on the /s/ and /z/ sounds. Sometimes the client has difficulties producing them or they are experiencing a lisp. A lisp is when a person incorrectly produces the /s/ and /z/ sounds because they are incorrectly placing their tongue in their mouth or they have incorrect airflow. This results in a sound that can sound slushy and unclear. For some people who experience a lisp their ‘sh’ and ‘ch’ sound can also sound slushy, though this is only seen in some people. People usually develop a lisp at a young age, as many children have lisps and grow out of them. Some children never do, and if the child does not receive speech therapy then the lisp will continue into adulthood.

Many adults come into the clinic seeking to work on lisp. Though it may sometimes take longer to see progress as an adult, with motivation and persistence an adult can also improve or eliminate their lisp. Sometimes all it takes is letting the client know the appropriate tongue placement and airflow, and they begin to improve from day one. Progress can happen at different rates for everyone, as some clients see progress after the first session and for others it can take 5 sessions before they begin to see a change. Everyone is different and will show progress at their own pace.

The two most common types of lisp are interdental and lateral lisps. Interdental lisps are when the tongue comes out in-between the front teeth. A lateral lisp is when the airflow as the sound is being produced comes out of the sides of the tongue. Typically to produce a clear /s/ and /z/ sounds the tongue should be in the mouth and the airflow should be central flowing down the middle of the tongue.

Now when it comes to treating lisps I always let clients try out two different positions of where they should place the tip of their tongue. Some people produce the /s/ and /z/ with their tongue tip down sitting on their lower teeth/gums ( dipper) and some people find it more comfortable with their tongue tip sitting closer to the alveolar ridge (tipper), hovering just below the ridge. I have had a handful of clients tell me that they received speech therapy before, but it didn’t seem to work for them. I tell them to try the tongue tip down position and for some clients it proves to be a game changer, and they began to see improvements after the first session. I always let clients know to try both positions and see which one they feel most comfortable with and feels more natural for them, and then we continue from there. The /s/ and /z/ will sound the same whether the tongue tip is pointing up or down as long as the airflow is coming down the centre of the tongue and not coming out of the sides.

To speak with one of the speech-language pathologists at Well Said: Toronto Speech Therapy, schedule an initial consultation by clicking the link below or calling (647) 795-5277.