A child’s ability to speak and utilize their family’s native language is seen as a key moment in the child’s development. However, what can be a concern for parents and educators alike is the development of a lisp. Lisps can make many people worried, but here is what the medical literature says they are, and what a family can do about it.
What Is a Lisp?
A lisp is a functional inability to speak native language sounds correctly. To use the example of English, common sounds that children with lisps might say incorrectly are the sounds associated with the letter “s”. Most children will not say sounds exactly right as they begin talking. What becomes a concern for many parents and educators is when that child has a lisp when they are around 4 ½ years of age. If a child still has their lisp at age 7 or 8, then treatment should be considered.
What Does a Lisp Sound Like?
A lisp is connected to the physical movements of the child’s mouth and tongue. With the “s” example, the child may push their tongue out to say “s” when regular English-speakers say “s” when they put their tongue behind their top teeth.
What Are The Types of Lisps?
Speech pathologists have found four main types of lisps. The first type is inter-dental lisp, which is when a child places their tongue beyond their teeth to say sounds like “s” or “z”. A dentalized lisp is when the tongue is touching the front teeth when saying “s” or “z”. A lateral lisp is when air is being forced out on the sides of the tongue when saying “s” or “z”. Finally, a palatal lisp is when the child places their tongue against their palate and pushes air between the two trying to say “s” or “z”.
What Are the Causes?
This physical action of the lisp itself is sometimes not the only cause. Most psychologists and speech pathologists argue that lisps form from a phonetic error as the child is learning the native language. This means the child hears, but then is unable to say the sound through the mouth. In addition, as a result of speaking the letter sounds over and over again, the lisp becomes a developmental speech impediment and ultimately a habit.
Treatment
One the first things to do is to see an orthodontist. Orthodontics is the study and treatment of jaw and teeth placement. Mar Orthodontics specialists can examine to see if the child has a jaw or tooth issue that is physically impairing them from making proper sounds in their language. After a physical assessment from an orthodontist, the parent can bring the child to a speech pathologist. There, the pathologist can provide tools to the child and the parent to correct the lisp. Many of these techniques involve repeating words with the sound that is an issue. For example, if the child’s issue is the “s” sound, the child should repeat several words with prominent “s” sounds. Doing this is a form of exercise, and it trains the mouth muscles and the child’s brain to develop the proper mouth structuring for that sound.
Parents don’ have to worry if their child has a lisp. The field of speech pathology includes numerous techniques and methods to find out what specific lisp the child has and what to do to solve this problem.
