By Pam Marshalla
Q: I have a client in grade five who has a frontal lisp. She can make a good /s/, but her jaw slides forward when we do word and sentence drills, and when we engage in conversation. The speech work, especially conversation, seems too fast to allow for her to get her jaw in the right position to keep the tongue in. Suggestions? Your client already can do a correct /s/ with a good jaw position, but she is not…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My client had a frontal lisp, but when I taught him to keep his tongue behind his teeth, he switched it to a lateral lisp. Have you seen this? What should I do? I am going to answer this question as if you already have taken my class on the lisps, or you have read my book Frontal Lisp, Lateral Lisp… I think it is somewhat common for a child with a frontal lisp to switch to a lateral lisp…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: I am a CFY and my supervisor will not let me attend your seminars because she says that you teach oral-motor techniques for which there is no proof. I need help with the lateral lisp and the distorted R. What can I tell her to convince her to let me go? First of all, what right does your supervisor have to determine which continuing education seminars you can and cannot attend? Why are you giving her this power over…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My client has an anterior open bite, a very strong thumbsucking habit, and a frontal lisp of S and Z. My first impression is to wait to work on speech until after the teeth are firmly in place and the sucking habit is eliminated. Do you agree with this? Yes. In regard to the teeth, it is my opinion that it does no good to work on the sibilants until the “anterior dental barrier” (consisting of the front teeth)…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: Do you believe that early frequent use of sippy cups can contribute to, establish, or perpetuate a frontal lisp in children? I find it hard to believe that a sippy cup would cause a frontal lisp pattern in an otherwise normal child. I suspect it can happen, but we don’t have real evidence for this. These are the types of questions that I wish young doctoral students would begin to focus on in their research. We need answers to…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: I am using your “Long T Method” to establish an S sound. Now the student cannot get rid of it. For example, she pronounces “juice” as “juits.” Please help! The Long T Method from Frontal Lisp, Lateral Lisp is a process of using T to establish correct tongue position for S. One uses T, and then “blows more air” to make an aspirated T, or Long T, as a substitute for S at the ends of words. Words like…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: What do you think of Speech Buddies? I have a set of Speech Buddies here that the creators sent to me for comment. They are a beautiful set of articulation tools. Speech Buddies are part of our return to the “phonetic placement technique” as described by Van Riper. He wrote the following: “For centuries, speech correctionists have used diagrams, applicators, and instruments to ensure appropriate tongue, jaw, and lip placement. [These] phonetic placement methods are indispensable tools in the speech…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: I have a student with a lateral lisp whose does not have proper jaw alignment. The jaw at rest and during speech is moved over to the right. My thoughts are that the misalignment of the jaw is causing lateralization of the sibilants. Is this correct? What are your thoughts? You are right. The jaw has to be in a stable midline position to produce a correct midline sibilant. I divide lateral lisps into several categories according to whether…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: I have a client with a unilateral lisp. I have noted symmetrical facial posture at rest and non-speech tasks. However he exhibits a unilateral retraction of his cheek that corresponds to his lateralization. I realize that lateralized productions reflect the tongue position more than the cheek position, but I am trying to determine what is happening inside the mouth during these times. How do I tell what he is doing with his tongue? As you have rightly surmised, cheek…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My 5-year-old is in articulation therapy with a speech pathologist for half-hour per week to treat a lateral lisp. Is this intense enough? And what is the best thing for me to do at home to help her practice? One half-hour session per week with homework activities is intense enough for a lateral lisp. That is precisely what I give my clients. Success all depends upon whether or not the therapist knows what he or she is doing. The…
