A mirror can be used to help a child learn to control a lisp.
Children can have a difficult time adjusting to school and being in public when they have to go through life with a lisp. Other children can be cruel and speech impediments such as a lisp can prompt bullying and insults. While a lisp may be a physical or psychological issue, there are techniques that parents can use at home to help teach their children the proper way of speaking and eventually controlling the lisp.
Instructions
1. Look at your child closely to see how his/her tongue is placed against teeth when he/she speaks. Examine the position of the mouth when saying words with a lisp. Determine if the "s" sound is spoken with a "th" or more of a "sh" sound, and if the child has any other speech difficulties besides the lisp, such as mispronouncing other sounds.
2. Position the child in front of a mirror and have him look at himself as he speaks. Amuse him with jokes and tickling, so he smiles wide into the mirror. A wide smile is a good position for making the proper "s" sounds. Practice smiling and saying words that create the lisp.
3. Strengthen his tongue muscles by having the child stick it out and move it around while looking into the mirror. Have your child practice moving around the tongue in the mouth and making the different sounds, especially the "s" sound. This way the child understands how the tongue moves and what positions create the proper sounds.
4. Create fun speaking exercises that have the child constantly saying words that create the lisp. Speak them slowly at first, so the child consciously makes the decision to move the tongue in the proper position. As he becomes more adept, have him say the words and sentences faster until his lisp improves.
