The Pesky Lisp Fixer Version 2.0: an evidence-informed approach for kids whose interdental lisps won’t stay fixed!
Don’t you hate those pesky interdental lisps? You know, the ones that won’t stay fixed?
To fix an interdental lisp – those lisps where your tongue sticks out between your teeth when you try to say /s/ – speech pathologists used to start with simple tasks, like saying an /s/ on its own. Once the child had mastered their /s/, we progressed in tiny hops (like baby bunny kittens) to slightly harder tasks. This traditional approach works.
But it’s SO SLOW!
Many kids – particularly older and more mature kids – hate being treated like babies. And, even after finishing traditional treatment, many kids have difficulties using their “new /s/” on words they haven’t practised and in more natural tasks, like story-telling and conversation. Which is, of course, the main point of trying to fix a lisp!
A better approach
Research evidence supports a different route for better results. Once a child can say the sound on his or her own, randomly mixing up hard and easy tasks can have quicker results that transfer more efficiently to real-world, lisp-free speech (e.g. see Skelton, 2004).
Read more about our Pesky Lisp Fixer Version 2.0 here.
Related articles:
- FAQ: Lisps
- Beyond flashcards and glue sticks: what to do if you or your 9-25 year old still has speech sound issues
- How to use principles of motor learning to improve your speech
