I have a very small lisp, any way to get rid of it??!
Question: You can only here it sometimes, but when i say the words "Yes", or almost anything with "S" in it, you can hear a bit of a lisp. I've also noticed that it makes me look very sloppy when i talk. Is there any exercises that i could do at home, before going to speech therapy?
Answers: You can only here it sometimes, but when i say the words "Yes", or almost anything with "S" in it, you can hear a bit of a lisp. I've also noticed that it makes me look very sloppy when i talk. Is there any exercises that i could do at home, before going to speech therapy?
There are different kinds of lisps. So-called "interdental" lisping is produced when the tip of the tongue protrudes between the front teeth and "dentalised" lisping is produced when the tip of the tongue just touches the front teeth.
The "lateral" lisp, where the /s/ and /z/ sounds are produced with air escaping over the sides of the tongue, is also called 'slushy ess' or a 'slushy lisp' due to the wet, spitty sound. Finally, there is the "palatal lisp," where the speaker attempts to make the sounds with the tongue in contact with the palate. It sounds like you have got a little of the so-called "lateral lisp," which is caused by the result mis-placement of the tongue. It's basically not where it is supposed to be. You have unconsciously been putting it in the wrong place for a long time. Good news though!! Your tongue isn't broken or damaged. Teaching you the proper placement will probably take less than one visit to a speech therapist. Howeve, it's a habit now, and like any other habit, breaking your "habit" of putting your tongue in the wrong place will be much harder and take a longer. You'll just have to concentrate in the mirror putting your tongue in the proper place until it is the habit! Don't be afraid of therapy. Usually,
therapy teaches proper placement of target sound by itself (/s/), Add a vowel, (/si/, /su/, /so/). Then start adding complexity by going to longer words ("seat") and or phrases ("I see"). Then the sound is put into another position, i.e., the middle ("Missy") or end of the word (bus). I don't think your therapy will be difficult but would need to be very structured.
It is not the 30-60 minutes of therapy time that changes you, but the follow thru at home. You are trying to undo years of habit. It is like working out or learning to play an instrument. Instruction time is really only to show you how to CORRECTLY practice on your own. Incorrect practice only reinforces negative habits. As for how long to fix, that depends on the person. You will probably learn how to make a good /s/ right away but it takes time before that becomes habitual in conversation when you aren't thinking about it.