Lisps & Adult Articulation
A lisp is a consistently mispronounced sound that is caused by a misplacement of the tongue during speech. Typically, lisps can be divided into two types: a frontal lisp and a lateral lisp. With frontal lisps, the tongue placement is too far forward creating a "th' sound where the /s/ and /z/ sound should be. For a lateral lisp, the tongue blade is too high and lax causing air to escape over the sides of the tongue creating slushy sounding /s/ and /z/ sounds.
Lisps are relatively common and prevalence rates range from 8% to 23% in the general population. We, as speech therapists, regularly work with adults, in Toronto, who were unsuccessfully treated for lisps during the school-aged years and who want to feel more confident while speaking.
If speech therapy for your lisp didn't work in the past, fret not;we can help you resolve your frontal or lateral lisp during adulthood. A lisp can be readily corrected at any age and in as quickly as three months.
Our Approach
At Well Said: Toronto Speech Therapy we have the experience and dedication to help you correct your lisp, providing you with the tools to achieve a new style of speech to succeed in real life.Using a client-centred,evidence-based, and holistic approach, we will work closely with you, incorporating the latest research and adult learning principles in order to achieve your speech goals.
Our services are covered by most workplace and education insurance plans. Try our "Is Lisp Work for Me?" self-reflection tool below the videos to discover how you might benefit.
Common Lisps & Articulation Errors
There are four common types of adult lisps that we work on. The videos below demonstrate the correct placement for commonly treated sounds.
S and Z Sounds
The S and Z sounds
R Sounds
The R sounds
L Sounds
The L sounds
SH & CH Sounds
Is Lisp work for me?
Unsure if lisp work is right for you? Try our new self-assessment tool by clicking on the box below. A box will open with a series of questions that you can consider to decide if this work is right for you.
Lisp Self-Assessment Tool
The Steps
Hear the Difference
Understand the way you currently pronounce the sound and how it differs from the standard production.
Learn the target
Learn how to pronounce the target sound.
Practice the New Way
Achieve your goal through step-by-step and supported practice in a safe space.
Related Articles
The Many Faces of T
T is often a difficult sound to grasp for non-native speakers of English, and it isn’t because the sound is hard to pronounce. Instead, it is because what we think of as the “T sound” is actually composed of several different sounds, and pronouncing the T correctly requires an understanding of the rules surrounding which version to use in a given word.
What Makes “R” So Difficult, and How Can I Change It?
There are many sounds in English, but people often have trouble with R. What makes this sound harder for some people to pronounce, even into adulthood?
Ten Challenges Facing People who lisp
Whether you lisp or someone in your life has a lisp, it's important to be aware of the challenges that can be associated.
Lisp: Social Indexing and Identity
A sharper, more “sibilant” production of “s” has become associated with the speech of gay men.The lack of distinction between disorder vs. difference has lead many to associate any type of “s” variation in a male speaker with assumptions of that speaker’s sexuality. However, real lisps, as functional speech disorders, have no correlation with sexual orientation.
Life with a Lisp
Lisping does not necessarily make a person less understandable. Rather, it can be a distraction that leads the listener to focus less on the content of the message and more on the assumptions the listener makes about the speaker.
Lisps: Speech Therapy For Adults
Have you noticed that many of the resources, blogs, and articles on the internet are for lisps and speech therapy with children, not adults? Not anymore.
Why is working on an adult lisp different than a child’s lisp?How is working on an adult lisp and a child’s lisp the same?What is a lisp? What causes a lisp? We're answering these questions in a unique post on treating frontal and lateral lisps in adulthood.
Next page: Appointments
