HOW CAN A LISP IMPACT ON MY child?
When children are young, it’s common for a lisp to be described as ‘cute’ or ‘sweet’. Sometimes we grow to love those little differences in our children’s speech!
However, it can actually be easier to resolve a child’s speech sound difficulty now, when they are at a younger age. This is because it is a motor plan they have developed – think about if you were right-handed, and suddenly had to learn to write with your left hand!
This would be much more achievable if you tried to make the change at the age of 5, after only holding a pencil to draw for 12 months, rather than at the age of 15, after 10 years of practice drawing, colouring and writing with that same hand.
By helping your child with their lisp at a younger age, you can help your child settle into conversations with new people more easily. School can be tricky enough without your child having to explain why they may make sounds differently to their friends.
Research suggests that as children grow and develop, they become more aware of their own skills, including their talking skills. We want your child to be a happy, confident communicator and we don’t want their speech sound errors to impact on their self-esteem and confidence.
As children develop into teenagers and young adults they often begin to job hunt and meet new people in new environments, where confident communication skills are so very important in reaching goals and meeting new friends.