Lisp Speech Therapy

• When your tongue is in the resting position, it should be behind the front top teeth or the front bottom teeth. Your tongue should never rest between your teeth. The only time your tongue should protrude between your teeth is when you are producing words with the /th/ sound, such as “think” and “thank you.”
• In the resting position, your mouth should be closed and tongue behind your teeth or hard palate, unless you have some kind of medical ailment.
• Use a straw as much as possible to drink your beverages, however, drinking from a straw can cause gas. Using a straw may help with motor movement and muscle memory. When using a straw your tongue should not protrude forward.
• Practice picking up a cheerio with the tip of your tongue and placing the cheerio on your hard palate (the top of your mouth behind your teeth), holding it until it dissolves. This exercise is a muscle memory exercise.
• Practice holding your tongue back when you speak at all times but not with the /th/ sounds. The /th/ sound is the only sound in American English that the tongue comes between your teeth.
• When producing the /s/ sound at the beginning and ending of words, practice clenching your top and bottom teeth together so that your tongue does not protrude between your teeth. Remember, the only time your tongue should come between your teeth is when you are producing the /th/ sound.

These exercises may reduce your lisp to a minimal thus reducing “noise pollution” so that you may effectively convey your thought or message.