Cope With Having a Lisp
Having a lisp, no matter what kind, can be a tough thing to deal with, especially when people point it out or even worse, make fun of you for it. You're not alone though, many people have a lisp of some sort. By reading this article, you will learn how to cope with it.
Steps
- Find out everything you can about your type of lisp. There are four major types of lisps.
- The first is an interdental lisp which is caused by the tongue protruding between the two front teeth.
- The second is called a dentalized lisp, in which the tongue touches the two front teeth. Both tend to cause S, T, and Z sounds to be produced with more of a "th" sound. (Sometimes dentalized lisps are classified together with interdental lisps.)
- The next is a lateral lisp, in which air escapes over the sides of the tongue, causing S and Z sounds to sound wet. It's sometimes called a "slushy lisp" because of the wet sound.
- The last one is the palatal lisp, which is caused by the tongue touching the soft palate when speaking.
- Decide if you want to do anything about your lisp. Most lisps, if corrected, are corrected during childhood. However, you can take speech therapy in your teenage years or adulthood, or even just practice smoothing your speech out at home. No matter what age you are, short-term speech therapy or practice can help you overcome it.
- If you don't want to do anything about it, that's okay too. Some consider their lisp to be a unique feature, a character trait of sorts, and something they may not want to correct. You can look at it like you would a birthmark - something that can be uniquely attributed to you.
- Realize that some people actually lisp to gain attention. Yes, that's right, some people will purposefully lisp when speaking to gain attention. It most often occurs in children, but it can be seen in older people too. This means that they think it sounds cool. It's almost like having naturally curly hair and all the straight-haired people have to force curls into their hair. You have something naturally that some people will force into their speech simply to gain attention.
- Above all, not get too down on yourself or be self-conscious of your lisp. Regardless of whether you choose to correct it or not, do not let it keep you from speaking or from being confident. Keep your head up! Many people have lisps and do very well in the world, and you could be one of those people as well! Don't let your lisp get in the way of you doing what you want to do. If you wish to speak in public, do it! If you want to sing, by all means, sing! If you have a talent for these things, people may not even notice your lisp - they'll notice the talent you have!
Tips
- There are numerous individuals who have made it big in the world, and they also had a lisp. Some famous people who have/had a lisp include Humphrey Bogart, Thomas Jefferson, Winston Churchill, Barbara Walters, Drew Barrymore, Russell Simmons, Anthony Kiedis, and Mike Tyson. Also keep in mind that James Earl Jones didn't have a lisp, but he did have a bad stutter in his younger years. His voice is now one of the most recognizable in the world! If you're a religious person, remember Moses? He had a lisp too!
- Don't let anyone ever try to bring you down because of your lisp. Many people are not discreet and they will point it out or even worse, make fun of it. Try to remember that anyone who will make fun of another person has their own insecurities and that is the reason they do so.
