By Pam Marshalla
Q: My client has no incisors and an underbite, and she distorts both S and Z. These errors sound like a lateral lisp, however when I use your straw testing method, there is no airflow coming out the sides, only the front. My colleague tells me that this is a lateral lisp. But how can it be if the air doesn’t come out the sides? Your colleague is wrong: If the airstream is not coming out the sides (as tested…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: How long should it take to establish midline airstream when a client has a lateral lisp? This depends upon what you are talking about. Are you trying to figure out how long it should take you to obtain the client’s first midline sibilant, or to finish the entire program? To be very honest, an SLP with no specific training on how to treat a lateral lisp may NEVER figure out how to get a correct set of midline sibilant…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: I am an SLP from Greece, and I’ve been working with a five-year-old girl with lateral lisp for four months. She still cannot produce a clear “S”. I am interested in buying your book on this subject, but I’d like to know whether these techniques apply only to English. Also, I have heard some SLPs claim that a lateral lisp cannot always be cured. I have never met a lateral lisp that could not be fixed except in the…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: How young will you see a child for an interdental/frontal lisp? Yours is one of the toughest questions to answer because there are different perspectives and different reasons for early treatment. If there is a speech problem only, most therapists in the public schools seem to wait for a child with a frontal lisp to turn 7 years of age and older. However, I meet many school SLPs who see these kids in kindergarten and first grade. Therapists in…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My client started with a frontal lisp. Now he is now producing a “Whistling S.” How do I correct this? A whistling S usually is an S that is being made in just the right place that whistling occurs. Simply have your client begin to move his tongue-tip higher or lower, slightly more forward or back, or slightly more to the left or right as he prolongs his S. You are searching for the place that works to alleviate…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My client inhales on S. I have tried using a straw and a cotton ball to teach him about airflow. He does fine with these, but he doesn’t transfer the skill to S. Help! Your client probably continues to inhale on S because he “thinks” he is trying to say S. He has an auditory/motor memory for his own S that he is continuing to access. You have to help him learn to block access to this memory. Here…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My daughter has a lateral lisp and obesity. The SLP cannot seem to get her to make the correct sounds. Can obesity interfere with learning these sounds? I have never faced this situation with any client. However, from what I know about tongue function and the lisps, I do not see how obesity might interfere with learning correct tongue position for S, Z, Sh, Zh, Ch, or J. Perhaps your SLP does not know how to fix a lateral…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: I am seeing a 5-year-old male with interdental S, T, D, N, and L. He can say every sound correctly when reminded to keep back teeth together. Do I address all sounds at once or just S first? Should I still do cornerstone approach since he is stimulable or just work on drill and carryover? As you know, each child is different. This is the process of trial and error. You will have to figure out what works best…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: I bought your book Frontal Lisp, Lateral Lisp recently and am trying your “Long T Method.” My client can do T but not Ts. Is there still hope that I can use the Long T method or should I skip to something else? I only tried an aspirated T during one session so far. Patience! One session is not enough to know if a method will work or not. Also, you seem to be trying to get him to…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: I have had success with your “Long T Method” for teaching S and Z with my adolescent lateral lisper, but he continues to break down in reading and in conversation, he can do Sh and Zh on words, but he can’t do Ch or J at all. Where do I go from here? Can I expect braces to help improve his speech? Braces will not help. This is not a tooth problem. It is a tongue movement problem. You…
