3 yr old with lisp

[desperatehousewife]

someone said most kids have a lisp when they start to learn to talk. My 3 yr old boy still does - it doesn't bother me (I think it's gorgeous) but will it go of it's own accord? His speech is very good and he talks non stop and his vocab is very good.

It won't necessarily go of its own accord, my DS still has a lisp and he will be six tomorrow. How long has your DS been talking? If it's for quite a while, you should maybe ask your HV to refer him for speech therapy. You could be waiting up to a year to see one anyway, and if it has gone by the time the appointment comes up, you can always cancel, and if it hasn't, by that time you'll know he needs it!

HTH.

Apparently I had a lisp when I was little and I don't now. I think most kids grow out of it as they learn new words/go to school.

Apparently I had a lisp when I was little and I don't now. I think most kids grow out of it as they learn new words/go to school.

Both of mine lisp aged 4 and 2. But I really think formal speech therapy this early is a bit heavy for a lisp. My 4yo has other mispronunciations too, and I play word and sound games with him to exercise his mouth (I suppose I'm providing my own SALT) and over time his pronunciation has improved. He was barely comprehendable two years ago, even though he had wide and sophisticated vocabulary and understanding.

My DS did speech therapy at age 4. But I have to say, it didn't do him much good and he's due another bunch of sessions now.

BTW, the sessions aren't heavy or anything - they consist of games, particularly with mirrors so the children can see where they're putting their tongues etc. He did enjoy them, but I do wonder if he was too young to benefit from them. My HV's view was simply that the earlier the better, but I'm not sure.

thanks for the thoughts. Will maybe speak to HV.

I'm an SLT and I wouldn't treat a child for a lisp until they were five or six years old. This is partly because it may clear up in the meantime, but partly because the problem is one of articulation rather than phonology (mixing sounds up). The therapy is totally different and requires greater maturity if the child is to participate.

Hope this helps

Don't know if it helps DHW, Mogwai, but it certainly helps me. I hope that the upcoming sessions my DS is going to have are more use than the ones he had when he was about 4.

Perhaps your son was seen because he had reached his fourth birthday. We often take children on for phonology therapy at this age because it seems to be the point at which they start to understand what they are required to do in therapy for speech sound work.

However, in practice, they are often not ready at all and I've wasted whole blocks of therapy (a waste of everyone's time) plugging away when the child wasn't ready. Unfortunately some parents are reluctant to hear that their child isn't ready (perhaps been waiting a while to be seen) and react very negatively when you say it's time to give it a break.

Parents become understandably concerned when their child is going to school in september and used to come to me wanting me to "sort the problem out before he goes to school" - if only it were that easy - it relies on the child's maturity and co-operation as much as them getting an appointment.

Interestingly, I'd say that the benchmark of four years to start therapy is no longer very accurate (especially for boys). Over the past seven or eight years I've noticed a change, four year olds seem much less mature and I will often wait until they are five. This obviously causes more anxiety for the parents because this means, in general, delaying until after they start school, but it also means more effective therapy in a shorter period of time when the child is ready to benefit. Makes me think many children are actually not ready to go to school at the age of four, but that's another matter!

Funnily enough, it was my HV who seemed to think it urgent that we put his name down for speech therapy. I was a bit startled that she thought it was necessary so young, but let her put his name down to indulge her. Her view was that as he would be on the waiting list so long, the important thing was to get on the waiting list. In the event, I think it would probably have been better if the waiting list had been a year longer!

I agree - but wouldn't that have made you more anxious? Perhaps you would have accepted that he needed time to mature....others parents don't always!

You can come to my clinic any time!

Hi DHW, only just seen this thread. I too have a 3 year old with lisp (if coffee still on for Wednesday you can see for yourself). I did mention it to HV who has referred us to a speach therapist for assessment. It amazed me and the appointment came through for 6 weeks! We see them later this month. I think he sounds quite cute, however I thought perhaps he wont find it so cute when he is 16. My concern was that perhaps it was something that could be fixed easily now, but if i left it too long it would become a problem. Also I think his lisp makes him quite hard to understand sometimes and he gets very frustrated. Will let you know how I get on at the therapist, as I assume you would be referred to the same place as us.