What is a Lisp?
A lisp is a speech sound disorder whereby a person has difficulty pronouncing “s” and “z” sounds clearly.
There are two types of lisp, interdental and lateral. An interdental lisp is when the sounds are produced with the tongue protruding between the teeth (or sometimes, pushing against the back of the teeth). A lateral lisp is when the air flows out of the sides of the mouth rather than forward, creating a “slushy” or distorted sound.
At Pop, we help parents identify signs of a lisp during our free discovery calls and then provide ongoing intervention with our speech therapy for kids to help children communicate confidently with tools and strategies to improve speech clarity. We also support adults who are managing a lifelong lisp with similar strategies.
What causes a lisp?
Many speech sound errors which are sound substitutions (i.e. light > wight) and originate from a disorganised sound system in the brain.
Unlike other speech sound errors, lisps are a sound distortion and stem from underlying muscular dysfunction in the mouth and face.
Lisps are considered to be atypical, meaning they are not a part of a typical developmental pattern, and may not resolve without support. Additionally, lisps may point to other underlying health issues.
Muscular dysfunction can arise due to limited tongue mobility (for example, because of tongue tie) or from the muscles learning compensatory patterns. These patterns may emerge for a number of reasons; such as prolonged pacifier use or thumb sucking, or other structural differences like enlarged tonsils and/or adenoids. In these cases, the tongue may adopt a forward posture to create space for breathing, which often carries into a lisp and /or a tongue-thrust swallow pattern.
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Identifying the root cause of the lisp is essential, so that therapy can be tailored to address the underlying issue. This may involve exploring structural barriers with other professionals, and doing Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy (OMT), alongside directly targeting the sound, to improve tongue mobility, break oral habits, and support better oral function overall.
This ensures treatment is not just about correcting the sound, but also restoring proper muscle function for long-term speech and health outcomes.
How Can You Treat a Lisp?
Experienced speech therapists or speech pathologists (yes, they are the same thing 
) use Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy (OMT) to support kids with a lisp and adults with a lisp.
One of the key parts of intervention for a lisp is establishing the correct tongue rest posture.
When we are not talking or eating, the tongue should be gently resting against the roof of the mouth, with light suction. This holds the mouth closed and the jaw up against gravity, taking the load off the surrounding facial muscles. The tongue position also influences the growth of the upper jaw and the position of the teeth.
Tongue rest posture is particularly important for remediating a lisp, because “where you rest is where you ‘S’” – Linda D’Onofrio. In other words, the “s” and “z” sound linked to a lisp is coming from inside the mouth (where the tongue is sitting).
At Pop, we have a team of Orofacial Myofunctional-trained therapists who will refer you to and work alongside other specialists such as ENTs, orthodontists, specialist dentists and in some cases, manual body workers, to ensure that you receive a comprehensive and holistic treatment plan.
We provide the Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy, which is targeted at retraining the muscles to rest and function correctly, therefore improving breathing, speech, eating function and reducing muscle compensations.
What does lisp speech therapy treatment look like?
At Pop, we can help people identify signs of a lisp or other associated dysfunctional muscle patterns, in themselves or their children during our free discovery calls.
When speech therapy begins, our experienced Speech Pathologists can diagnose lisps during a speech assessment. This involves first assessing speech patterns, tongue mobility and muscle function, and then creating a treatment plan.
Once a plan has been made, speech therapy can help with a lisp to address any underlying issues alongside targeting the sound directly in therapy and to support adults and children to develop clear and confident communication.
I/My Child Has A Lisp – What Else Should I Look Out For?
If you or your child have a lisp, it’s helpful to watch for other signs that may point to a broader underlying issue, such as an Orofacial Myofunctional Disorder (OMD). An orofacial myofunctional disorder can impact speech sound production, eating skills, breathing health, dental alignment, facial development, as well as sleep quality.
When identifying an OMD, a trained orofacial-myofunctional speech pathologist, such as our Pop speech pathologists, will look for one or more of the following missing foundations:
- Correct tongue rest posture
- Lip seal (closed without strain)
- Correct swallow pattern
- Consistent nasal breathing
These missing foundations can be easier to find when looking for any of the following flags:
- Mouth breathing
- Open-mouth posture during the day or during sleep
- Fussy eating and avoidance of certain textures
- Difficulty or fatigue with chewing or swallowing certain food textures
- Prolonged thumb sucking, pacifier use, or other oral habits
- Forward tongue rest posture (tongue sits over front lower teeth)
- Distortion on any of the following sounds: /s, z, t, d, n, l, j, ch, sh, r/
- Enlarged tonsils
- Signs of poor sleep quality such as: snoring, audible breathing, restless sleep, night sweats, waking frequently, frequent nightmares, night terrors, teeth grinding, mouth breathing, drooling, pauses in breathing, frequently waking tired or irritable.
If you’ve noticed any of these flags, we recommend booking in a free discovery call to discuss the best next steps.
Looking for lisp speech therapy?
At Pop, we support children and adults around Australia with their lisp speech therapy! Our experienced Speech Pathologists are highly trained in orofacial myology, a key area for treating lisps, and we have one of the largest clinical teams dedicated to this niche.
We offer free discovery calls to help you identify if your child has a lisp, and if it may be related to an underlying orofacial myofunctional disorder.
Book your free 15 minute call to support yours or your child’s communication journey.
