Lisping Treatment

As young children develop speech and language skills past their toddler years, imperfections are to be expected. However, some speech difficulties may become apparent as your child enters their school-age years, usually before kindergarten.

A lisp is one type of speech disorder that can be noticeable during this developmental stage. It causes difficulty pronouncing some consonants, with “s” being one of the most common.
Lisping is extremely common. One source estimates that 23 percent of people are affected at some point during their lifetime.
According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), if your child has a lisp beyond age 5, you should consider enlisting the help of a speech-language pathologist (SLP). These specialists are also called speech therapists.
Specific exercises used in speech therapy can help correct your child’s lisping early on. It can also be helpful to practice at-home techniques as support.
Consider some of the most common techniques used by speech therapists to help remedy a lisp.

Lisping can be broken down into four types:

Lateral. This produces a wet-sounding lisp due to airflow around the tongue.
Dentalized. This occurs from the tongue pushing against the front teeth.
Interdental or “frontal.” This causes difficulty making “s”and “z”sounds due to the tongue pushing between spaces in front teeth. This type of lisp is common in young children who have lost their two front teeth.
Palatal. This also causes difficulty making “s”sounds, but it is caused by the tongue touching the roof of the mouth.
A speech therapist will treat a lisp with articulation exercises aimed to help with pronouncing certain sounds correctly.

Interdental or frontal lisp. It is one of the more common forms of lisp. Your child may have a frontal lisp if they say, “thebra” or “thnake” instead of “zebra” or “snake.”

Physiological Factors

There may also be physiological factors contributing to a lisp. Ear Nose and Throat specialists are unable to rule out the impact of enlarged tonsils or nasal obstructions (snuffly breathers or children with allergies) towards a lisp. The reasoning behind this is that enlarged tonsils take up much of the space at the back of the throat. Typically this is where the base of the tongue would normally sit. This results in pushing the tongue into a more forward position. As a result, this can often be associated with ‘mouth breathing’. Where the mouth may rest open rather than closed. The same is true for children with nasal allergies. Who may compensate by being mouth-breathers. These children do appear to dribble more frequently. This may be due to them swallowing their saliva less often.
 
Orthodontists and Dentists agree that genetics plays a large role in the shape of your jaw and bite. However, the shaping of the jaw and subsequently the teeth positioning is also strongly influenced by the forces of your tongue and lips and cheeks. So, a ‘tongue thrust’ where your tongue pushes forward slightly on swallowing can contribute to an ‘overbite’. Where the top teeth are pushed further forward in relation to the lower teeth. In these children and adults we often also see ‘lisp’ speech behaviours. However, we have to treat the underlying tongue thrust behaviours first.

We have the facility of Lisping Treatment in Prayagraj,For consultation and treatment,

Contact:

33/29, Lowther Road George Town

Prayagraj, Near Sarodaya ENT Center

Phone: 7704889513, 9451889513