How to Take Care of a Lisp When Talking

Lisping is a speech disorder with unknown causes. People who lisp when they talk protrude their tongue from between their teeth when pronouncing the s and z sounds, making the sounds unfocused and unclear. Many young children have problems with lisping, but it usually corrects itself during the teen years. Older individuals who lisp can reverse the disorder with rehearsal, study and consistent practice. Speech pathologists, trained professionals specializing in speaking problems, can also be very useful when eliminating a lisp.

Things You'll Need

• Mirror

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Instructions

• 1

  Stand in front of a mirror. Begin speaking on any subject without trying to stop or sublimate your lisp. Notice which sounds give you the most trouble; the s and z sounds are common problem areas for lispers, along with the l and r sounds. Repeat the experiment in front of a friend or relative and see if their conclusions match yours. Write down which letters you lisp and rank them in order of priority.

• 2

  Write out a script that can fit on a single sheet of paper. Make sure the script contains many examples of the problem sound or sounds. Include words that give you particular trouble and scatter them throughout the script. Don't worry about making the script coherent; the trick is to include as many problem letters as possible, not to write something that makes sense.

• 3

  Stand in front of a mirror and warm up by opening and closing your mouth and moving your tongue around; you want your mouth to be as flexible as possible before working on eliminating your lisp. Start pronouncing the words in the script one by one and as slowly as you need. Make sure that your tongue is positioned slightly before the teeth when pronouncing the s, z, and l sounds, and touching the roof or the mouth with r sounds. Read the entire script once out loud. Correct mistakes as you make them; practicing mistakes will only reinforce the lisping. Circle words in the script that are most difficult to pronounce.

• 4

  Read the script several times a day in front of a mirror; consistent effort is crucial when taking care of a lisp with home study. Read a page from a book when you can pronounce all of the words in the script correctly. Read a passage slowly in front of a friend or relative and ask them to critique your pronunciation. Speak slowly when involved in a conversation and be mindful of your lisping tendencies; inattention when speaking can quickly reverse progress. Practice until you can pronounce problem sounds without a lisp.