{"id":545,"date":"2012-05-01T10:56:04","date_gmt":"2012-05-01T17:56:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/?p=545"},"modified":"2019-04-05T12:46:19","modified_gmt":"2019-04-05T19:46:19","slug":"understanding-palatal-lisps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/speech-disorders\/understanding-palatal-lisps\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Palatal Lisps"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Speech<\/a>

Image source: thechildwellnesscenter.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Sometimes, a child can naturally \u201cgrow out of\u201d a lisp. However, a palatal lisp is not a developmental problem, which means that your child is not likely to grow out of it. A palatal lisp occurs when your child touches the middle of his tongue to the soft palate when he pronounces the \u201cs\u201d and \u201cz\u201d sounds.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Identifying the Palatal Lisp<\/h2>\n

Parents can identify the palatal lisp by attempting to make the sound themselves. According to speech-language pathologist (SLP) Caroline Bowen<\/a>, the sound of a person with a palatal lisp attempting to produce the \u201cs\u201d and \u201cz\u201d sounds will closely mimic the production of an \u201ch\u201d and a \u201cy.\u201d Try to make these two sounds close together and prolong the sounds. If your child has been making this sound, he may have a palatal lisp.<\/p>\n

\"Speech<\/a>

Image source: sw-rehab.org<\/p><\/div>\n

Treating the Palatal Lisp<\/h2>\n

Taking the \u201cwait and see\u201d approach is not advisable with a palatal lisp. The longer your child continues to talk in this manner, the more difficult it can be to correct his speech. Bring your child to an SLP and have him evaluated as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

Your child\u2019s speech therapist might begin his treatment by helping him to differentiate between sounds so that he is aware of the correct pronunciation of the \u201cs\u201d and \u201cz\u201d sounds. She might also use the butterfly technique. The butterfly technique can help your child to visualize the correct placement of his tongue by imagining a butterfly. Your child will be asked to picture a butterfly while positioning his tongue so that the sides are slightly raised and lightly touch the teeth. The SLP will instruct your child to hold his tongue in this position while pronouncing the \u201cs\u201d and \u201cz\u201d sounds.<\/p>\n

As your child masters the correct articulation of these sounds, his speech therapist will have him incorporate the sound into syllables and words. Your child will practice lists of target words with the \u201cs\u201d and \u201cz\u201d sounds in the beginning, middle, and ends of words.<\/p>\n

\"Parent<\/a>

Image source: besteducationpossible.blogspot.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Activities at Home for Palatal Lisps<\/h2>\n

Talk to your child\u2019s speech therapist about activities that you can do with him at home to accelerate his progress. She may provide you with lists of target words to work on together. Keep your child engaged by creating games around speech therapy. Sing the words together or play word guessing games. You can also use the Seal Speech Buddy<\/a> with your child. This is a simple device that provides a target in your child\u2019s mouth to facilitate correct articulation.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s always beneficial to read books together<\/a> with your child. Reading them aloud models correct patterns of speech for him. If he\u2019s old enough, encourage him to read them with you. Even if your child cannot yet read, he has likely memorized some short sentences from his favorite books.<\/p>\n \n \n \n \"Parents'<\/a>\n <\/span>\n <\/span>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes, a child can naturally \u201cgrow out of\u201d a lisp. However, a palatal lisp is not a developmental problem, which means that your child is not likely to grow out of it. A palatal lisp occurs when your child touches the middle of his tongue to the soft palate when he pronounces the \u201cs\u201d and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1739,28],"tags":[337,335,336,317],"class_list":["post-545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pronunciation-lisps","category-speech-disorders","tag-activities-for-palatal-lisps","tag-palatal-lisps","tag-treating-palatal-lisps","tag-types-of-lisps"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=545"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10823,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545\/revisions\/10823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}