

Thumb sucking and use of pacifiers can encourage tongue thrust. If this persists as one grows older, it tends to give rise to lisping speech. Tongue thrust is a common muscular imbalance that most of us display in infancy.Yet, there may also be certain other factors that contribute to the lisp. The true cause for lisping is not as yet clear. The specifics are discussed further on in the section dealing with different types of lisps. Generally, a lisp is caused by the inability to achieve correct placement of the tongue within the mouth when attempting to produce certain sounds. The formation of sounds is also determined by how we control the flow of air into and out of our mouths, noses, and throats. We produce a variety of sounds by altering the way that we position our tongues and lips in relation either with each other or with our palates and teeth. The most common form of lisp involves distorted pronunciation of sibilant sounds. Often, this involves difficulty in correctly pronouncing the sounds ‘s’, ‘z’ and ‘r’, among others. Hence, those who lisp are unable to achieve clear and correct articulation. It is a condition in which the person is unable to produce certain sounds necessary for speech. Examples of speech impediments include stuttering, cluttering, and lisping.Ī lisp is an example of a functional speech disorder. Their causes can vary widely, ranging from anatomical abnormalities like cleft lips and palates, or brain damage to psychological stress. Sometimes these can be corrected with the right kind of support, inputs, and effort. Speech defects vary in nature and in intensity. In other cases, the defects are very minor and do not impair the person’s ability to make themselves understood by others. Certain speech impediments can affect the person’s ability to communicate as others may not be able to fully understand them. The person may be mute, unable to produce certain sounds, may speak too rapidly or they may have a problem with their voice. There also exists a group of individuals who are able to communicate through speech but they may have certain defects or impediments.īroadly speaking, a speech impediment is any condition that affects a person’s ability to speak normally. Certain others may be completely unable to speak as a result of muteness. Some individuals take longer than others to develop speech skills. The acquisition of speech is a highly complex process that we begin in infancy and continue to master throughout our lives. Among humans, speech and spoken language are the powerful and effective tools of communication.
