How to stop lisping?

Question

Any ideas how to teach a child to speak without lisping?

I have a 5 year old who has sucked his thumb since birth and since his language developed he has had a lisp.,. I have tried EVERYTHING to stop him sucking the thumb but it is almost sub concious and the lisp remains!

Any ideas appreciated.. and to those who say what is the prob.. no prob, but I as his mom I would prefer if he was able to define his "s" correctly, it may be cute at 5 but I don't think it will be cute at 25!

Answer 1

i've got a lisp at age 35 and i never used to suck my thumb as a kid. i read the story of the girl whose mum went over the top in trying to get her to break the thumb sucking habit. if you consider it from a freudian angle, then he'd say the child is fixated at that point of his development because perhaps you did not breastfeed him/her to a comfortable age, and so the child feels the need to 'make up' for the loss...? this is not exactly my view...so read on.
be that as it may, perhaps you want to draw his attention away from thumb sucking by means of a more natural process. remember, child rearing should not involve any 'quick fixes'. this leads to side effects (like the girl who was determined to suck her thumb probably because her mom blew the whole thing out of proportion). As a teacher, i know there are several ways of getting them to dance to your tunes, obviously for the greater good.
you could try ignoring it, and then, everytime you catch him not sucking his thumb, pat him on the back and praise him, saying well done, you're not sucking your thumb today, or at the moment, you're a big boy now! if you say with meaning, with a bright happy smile, the child will feel pleasure in being able to make you happy. this means you've got to watch him carefully, so as to monitor when to praise him. i promise you, on most kids, this works amazingly well. watch his little face work when you catch him suck his thumb, but tempting though you may find it to show anger or concern, just keep a straight face, a level gaze and ignore it. this is called the extinction method, because u'll find that sooner or later the 'bad' habit becomes extinct. this method requires a great deal of patience but remember, once they let go, do they let go! if u can hold out long enough, light will come at the end of the tunnel.
in a school environment it has been proven over and over that kids become frustrated and stuck at a level of learning when the focus is on the things they're doing wrong. it has to be dealt with if its obvious and continuous but for goodness sake, its only thumb sucking, give the child a break, its what kids do you know.
another way to approach would be to give him activities that would involve both his hands? drawing? playing with the dog?
also, it might be wise to consider that, children tend to cling to habits which are familiar to them, more so when they feel uncomfortable or unhappy or not well, or a combination of it all. Make sure your child is happy and that you smile with him often enough, and give him praise often enough for him to develop a healthy balanced sense of self. Let him do things on his own, like, tie his own shoelaces and pick his own clothes etc. praise him when he gets it right. perhaps this alone can solve the problem because emotional well being, despite it being the most important part of anyone's induction into this thing called life, its very often seen as less important than learning factual information. Thumb sucking might have nothing to do with his lisp, sometimes the skin which ties the tongue underneath is tighter than in other people, so the tongue stretches less and is therefore 'lazier' than usual. (i knew someone with this problem when i was growing up). all i can say is, love your child, dont do 'quickies' by means of running to a specialist, take time and tlc into the equation. also, my lisp comes out only when i'm excited, otherwise, no one knows i have a lisp, some of my friends think its cute and endearing, frankly i dont give a toot about the rest who dont! have fun :-)

Answer 2

The only way to do this is with a speech therapist. If you're in the UK then ring your health visitor and they will refer you, though it may be a long wait as they won't class this as a serious speech impediment. I sucked my thumb from birth and still do occaisionally at night (i'm 23!) it really is a sub concious act and I still have trouble stopping myself now so don't torture yourself or your son by trying to stop it/ My mum put a thumb strap on me, a rancid nail polish designed to stop nail biting, smacked me, removed toys/treats, promised toys etc, told me horror stories (about deformed teeth etc), and eventually took me to the dentist to have a removable brace fitted which actually stopped my thumb fitting in my mouth!!!! All these failed. Will young has a lisp as did one of my friends, it doesn't make me like them any less.xxx

Answer 3

My grandson had speech therapy and the foundations of which were by pictures, learn him to first say snake, draw a long snake and emphasise the sssssssssssssnake as you run your finger along his body, then a tap, tap your finger emphasise t,t,t,t, Make the noise yourself as you go along. The next part would be to get him to say stop, but begin ssss t, sss t, until s is clear and then t follows on well afterwards. Speech therapy can be a long awaited procedure, I'm surprised that your child has not been recommended to a therapist by a nursery teacher etc. Listening also plays a major part in how we speak...dummies make childrens' tongues lazy and confined.

Answer 4

he will most likely grow out of it, many children have lisps at that age and others have difficulty even speaking.

Don't stress out over it too much. The thumb sucking is probably nothing to do with it, but, he'll end up with callouses on his thumb, i used to such my little finger, and i have callouses from it.

Answer 5

don't be overly concerned, he'll probably grow out of it in a couple of years. have him practice keeping his tongue behind his teeth when he is pronouncing his S's. this should help. good luck!
I don't think sucking his thumb is a factor, my girlfriend doesn't lisp at all.

Answer 6

try to hake him enoucate evrything tell him to speek a little slower. It will take wile but soon he will be talking just fine.Dont freek out its not a big deal most people grow out of them.But if you dont think he will then try my thing I hope I helped you!!!!!BYE BYE!!!!

Answer 7

You need to see a specialist, the child need training on how to say certain words properly.

Answer 8

speech theripist

Answer 9

speech therapy

Answer 10

sellotape his hands to his sides