Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Children's health

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

11 yo DD has a lisp

3 replies

TickledOnion · 16/08/2021 23:24

I feel so stupid that I didn’t notice it. She got teased at a summer camp today. I think I just got used to the way she speaks and her friends probably don’t notice it any more.
Is private speech therapy the solution? Has anyone had this with an older child? How long does it take to improve? Thanks

OP posts:
OutIsay · 18/08/2021 23:32

Yes, I would say private speech and language therapy (the waiting list for NHS is likely to be astronomical). Once she can actually produce the s sound, you can help her practise at home (getting it into everyday speech is really hard as it is changing how she has produced it all her life a bit like us changing every p sound to a t for example). She needs to want to do it though.

WeRTheOnesWeHaveBeenWaitingFor · 18/08/2021 23:37

Does she make a ‘th’ sound instead of a ‘s’ sound? If so you can try using the words ‘think’ and ‘sink’ to help her to hear the difference. Write them down and ask ‘which did I say?’ Then swap roles. If she can make the ‘s’ raising her awareness is sometimes enough for her to start to change and with practice she may improve. NHS won’t do anything for a lisp so any SaLT would have to be private and it can take a long time for some children and there are no guarantees it would even work.

BettyOBarley · 21/08/2021 21:36

My 7 year old has a lisp and the NHS SALT I spoke to wasn't interested in the slightest. Just said "everyone talks differently" Hmm I think private is the way to go.
She did say encouraging the child to put their tongue almost on the roof of their mouth behind their teeth to make the sound is a good first step.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page