Question:
I’m in 7th grade, am a girl and I have a medium lisp. I can’t say my s’s or z’s clearly. It drives me nuts because people tease me about it. What are exercises I could do to get rid of it without speech therapy? I went to speech therapy when I was younger but stopped because they said it was gone. I guess not because people still tease me about it. Thanks for the help.
Answer:
If you can remember them, you can do the exercises you were given when you were in speech therapy. You can also try practicing by putting a “t” or “n” in front of the “s” as well as “d” or “n” in front of the letter “z.” The challenge is to keep your tongue away from your teeth so that they can come together to form the “s” or the “z.” You might be able to make the correction by simply focusing on keeping your tongue flat in the bottom of your mouth. An important aspect of this correction is repetition over time. You will have to practice for a period if time every day, and you might have to renew the practice throughout your life because you have a reflex to lisp. It will be worth it to start every day with a few minutes of practice if it means you get to have the rest of the day without lisping.