My Son Is Two and Has a Lisp. Is This Typical?

My daughter lisped when she was little, too. I think it's pretty typical. "I made a thnowman! I want a thnack! Dat baby is thucking her fumb!" "How old are you?" "I'm FREE years old!" We practiced saying "shnowman" instead of "thnowman" because the SH sound has the "S" sound hidden in it and it's an easier transition than TH to S. I also asked her to try saying "Zat baby is shucking her sumb", which came out as "THat baby is shucking her THumb", and "I'm SREE years old", which came out perfectly as "I'm THREE years old". It wasn't that she couldn't make the "TH" sound, she did it perfectly well when she tried the "S" or "Z" sound, so we kept practicing saying "S"s and "Z"s for the "TH" sounds and saying "SSSSHHHHHH" to get the mouth feeling of how "SSSSS" would be and it totally worked - she actually practiced her way out of the lisping! By the time she was 4, the lisp was gone and all pronunciation and enunciation was perfect.

It is not an issue yet, but for many, it will continue beyond age 5. If your son is one of these, he will need therapy, but for the vast majoirty of school districts, a lisp does not create an educational need, so nothing will be done unless you pay for it at a private speech and langague therapists office. If his name begins with one of these sounds, get the therapy sooner rather than later. It is relatively easy when you go early, and it does not really take all that long.

M.

This past summer, we had our son's speech evaluated when he was 27 months. When saying some words (the only one that comes to mind right now is "poo-poo" : ) He would put his tongue between his lips to say the "p" sound. The speech therapist said he did not qualify for services and that this was very normal. She said that even if you try to work with him at this age that he wouldn't understand the difference and get annoyed. She also gave me a helpful chart that showed when children typically learn to say certain sounds correctly. Anyway, he did grow out of it. You could give it a little longer. BTW, the speech evaluation was free and they came to our house. Just ask your pediatrician about it.

Yes, this is absolutely normal! S sounds are among the last to develop, and sometimes they can take up to age 7 to develop normally. If he gets into school and he still has issues, then they'll evaluate him with the speech language pathologist.

Yes-but at about age five-educators will start to panic-and they are fixable-lisps, that is-not educators. One of my children was in kindergarden (almost 5) when it was brought to my attention that she did not pronounce "th" at all. I told them that I was sure that it would be corrected before she walked down the aisle-and they looked at me like I had three eyes. To this day-she is practically perfect in every way!

I've got four kids and my youngest, who is also 2 is the only one that lisps. We wondered too, if it is OK, cause none of our other kids talk like that. But, I will say, her vocabulary is vast, and she started talking very early, as did all my other kids.

At this age it can go either way. When he says a word like that, have him look at your mouth and repeat you, see it that helps. Also check with your local school district and have him tested, the earlier they intervene the better for him, you and the school once he starts. You should also talk with your pediatrician about it and he can ask he be tested by the district also.

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