"...because it requires the most delicate positioning of the tongue visa vi the palette"

A journalism education just isn't what it used to be. Try "vis-à-vis".

I had a lisp as a child and finally got speech therapy in 5th grade to get rid of it. I still lisp now and again, especially when my mouth is dry, like when I'm speaking in front of a group. Sometimes still I really have to concentrate on my S sounds and work to place my tounge how it should go or the old lisp comes out - somewhat embarrasing and frustrating - it just takes some effort and concentration, even in my 40's.

I had a lisp growing up and I was teased relentlessley which being already shy turned me pratically mute unless I knew the person.  I went through speech therapy from 1st grade through junior high and the only thing that truly fixed my toungue thrust was a special wire that was put in the roof of my mouth when I had braces in 11th grade.  It forced me to keep my toungue back.  Ive had instances of extreme stress or nervousness where it magically reappeared to my utter displeasure, it is good to see I am not the only one that this has happened to.

Back in Grade School, I had a lisp as well. At that time they referred to it as a "silibent s". Kids being the cruel brutes that can be, teased me relentlessly. 2+ years of Speech Therapy helped me to improve somewhat at least. Unfortunately, for those 2+ years, I was getting up during class time and walking out the door to go to therapy. I'm not sure what was worse, the comments I got about my voice or the abuse I got from walking out of the class room 2 times a week........It was no fun being "special".......Sometimes the teacher even joined in with the group trying to copy and point out my lisp.....a few times she'd have me read out loud and make me reread any words I had problems saying.....and then laugh if I couldn't quite get it right.

Now, 40 plus years later, I'm still pretty sensitive about any comments made about my speaking, (real or imagined). However, somehow, someway, I've become a pretty good public speaker and as an Officer of the local Elks Lodge I've had to get up in front of large groups of people. Just this past Sunday, a gentleman at my church told me that he looks forward to the Sundays when it’s my turn to read some selected passages from the bible. He enjoys my "Wonderful Speaking Voice"..............go figure!!

My daughter had the cutest little lisp and I never said anything about it.  When she came to me at about age 5 and said, "Mama, have you noticed that I have a lisp?" I said yes, but I think it's cute.  I then heard her in her room by herself, working and working to overcome it.  She never had to go to therapy, but I do kind of miss it.  I'm glad I have videos with her lisping, it was so cute.

I had a bad lisp problem and had to go to a speech therapist from kindergarden -2nd grade, 3x a week. We had special names for all of the days she would treat me - Monsday and Frisday were my favorite. She was so wonderful for me and I still smile when I think about her after all this time.

OMG!!! I was just talking about this the other day. I had a lisp as a kid. I had to go to speech therapy ALL through 1st grade, to get rid of it. My speech therapist classified me as a "Tongue Thrasher"... I thought it was cool then, but the more I think about it, it kinda sounds like some kinda serial killer or torture mechanism... lol

My lisp was so bad they put me in the "slow" classes in school, until I took the Iowa Basics Standardized test and scored in the top 3% of the nation. They moved me to the "smart" classes after that and got me a speech therapist. Now, at 32, my lisp is mostly gone. I say mostly because I can still hear it, but most people I meet never do. I was teased so much as a child that I didn't want to speak to anyone. Now I find it's still hard to talk to people, even though they can't hear my lisp. I developed into a decent writer, and I believe that's due to myself trying to find a way to communicate non-verbally. Lisps are tough, my heart goes out to all that have them or have struggled with them at anytime in their lives.

I had a lisp, but never knew it, and was always designated to read for the entire class (1st, 2nd and 3rd grade). One day, when I was 8, my best friend told me that while I was a good reader, when I talk, I talk "like dith (this)." I went home, looked in a mirror and notice my tongue came forward over my teeth when I said any s-word. I trained myself to keep the tongue behind the teeth, and eventually it went away. I grew up to become a NYC anchor!

I never had a problem speaking and my daughter has spoken very clearly since she was 3 years old. My son, however, mumbles. Sometimes it's so bad I have to tell him to slow down and speak clearly because I can't understand him at all. At what point do I decide it's not a childhood affectation and get him some help? He's 7 now and no one at school has said anything to me (including his teachers and I've asked them point blank).

I had a really bad lisp (Rs and Ss)and took speech therapy for 8 years. I was teased by my siblings and other kids. I was picked on and beaten almost everyday after school. The fact that I struggled with dyslexia did not help. Having a reading and speech disability made other, including school teachers believe that I was slow. They even put me in the "Retard" class. Yes that is what the school called the class. In 3rd grade they attempted to flunk me because of these issues. Luckily I had parents that had me tested by a visiting teacher and they found out that I was reading and comprehending at a 8th grade level. I just could not get it out verbally. Taught them not to judge a book by its cover.

Like other posters it was not easy being pulled out of class for therapy. One day I just couldn't take trying to slink, back into class so when I opened the door and everyone turned to look at me I broke into a song and dance. I cannot sing but I think I caught them so off guard they stopped making a big deal out of it.

I still lisp a bit and people always ask where I am from because of "my accent". When I tell them it is a lisp they practically trip over themselves trying to say I do not lisp. I explain to them that having a lisp does not bother me so they should not be embarressed for me or themselves for asking.

I have a daughter that has a lisp that will be starting highschool this year. My wife and I thought we should get her help to overcome it when she was little, but it didn't seem to bother her. We thought that someday she would get teased relentlessly by other children and then she would come to us and request help. We made suggestions over the years about how we could schedule a visit to the speech therapist, but again it never seemed to be a problem for her. My wife recently suggested again to my daughter that we should hire a speech therapist. My daughter is quite social and doesn't hold any secrets from her friends. She mentioned to her friends that she was considering seeing the therapist to overcome her lisp, and they unanomiously said "DON'T DO IT, YOUR LISP IS PART OF WHO YOU ARE AND WHY WE LIKE YOU SO MUCH." It gave me comfort in knowing that my daughter and her friends are comfortable and accepting just they way she is.

I had a lisp as a kid - and my first & last names each had an "s" in them! My best friend's mom was a speech therapist and every time I went over to play, she'd hiss at me like a snake and expect me to hiss back. I outgrew lisp as I got older, but I don't think it was because of the hissing.

In childhood, I had what speech pathology refers to as a "lazy s". These days, however, I'm just a lazy a** !

As a child, I had a "lazy s" Now I just have a lazy a**!

I remember the Iowa Test of Basic Skills... We took that test here in Georgia!!!

Does anyone know of any good websites for information on self-help?

If your children lisp--please get them help. I had a lisp until Grade 5. My lisp was severe, and I didn't even know I had it...I thought I was pronouncing everything correctly. I was very fortunate to have a teacher who had the compassion to know how a continued lisp could pose a tremendous burden if I continued into my adulthood. Mrs. Robbins (to whom I will always be grateful) spoke with my parents and arranged for me to leave class on a regular basis for speech therapy. Thanks to her and my speech therapist, I grew up to be a self-assured young lady who eventually became a great orator, traveling all over the country representing my company (a very large telecommunications company) by giving keynote speeches and testifying to congressional committees.

I had a bi-laterial cleft lip and had a bad lisp. I was teased and tormented, nearly expelled several times because of it. Even the speech pathologist seamed to make fun of me, by stating over and over how funny it was to hear me talk. Six years of treatment and I was a bitter resentful person to this day. People don't realize how crule they really are. I want to go home and hug my son. I over came the inablility to talk and received straight A's in college for public speaking.

I had a terrible lisp as a child and sounded like Sylvester the cat. Everyone thought it was cute and funny. I spent my 2nd grade school year in speech therapy where a teacher would quietly (and discreetly) bring me down the hall to a room with other kids with speech problems. To this day, I thank my lucky stars that the teachers in my public school system identified my speech problem and took care of it while I was still young. I know so many adults who have speech problems, many with lisps, that could have been corrected when they were children.

I had a lisp until 8th grade, when it was brought to the attention of my school administrators.  I'd always scored in the top percentiles in any standardized tests, and I'm hard of hearing, so I never realized that my speech was different.  My speech therapist in high school corrected it within a couple of months.

Later on (at 18), I got something very similar to Bell's Palsy (mentioned in the article as temporary, it isn't always!).  Half of my face was completely paralyzed for about six months, and still is mostly paralyzed.  One comment I heard from several of my friends was that they were impressed my speech was still so clear.  I guess I'm lucky that everyone can understand me, even if they can't tell when I'm smiling!

I still have problems with the TH and S sounds when they are in the same word. The words chrysanthemum and Gethsemane kill me. Once I was struggling over chrysanthemum and I got so mad at myself and my mom said "Oh, just say mums!"

I know for certain that childhood trauma can cause all sorts of physiological and developmental problems. I wasn't allowed to speak or express how and what I felt. Because Spanish was my first language, not being able to speak English along with a lisp made me feel like an outsider. I remember being in kindergarten and not being able to speak with the kids or teachers. Fortunately, by the first grade, every afternoon I attended speech classes through 8th grade. I'm grateful for my teachers and my speech therapist. It was a wonderful experience.

Then, in my forty's, I decided to get braces for my overbite (not severe though). My speech changed again (the lisp!) because I had to wear a retainer. My dentist said this was temporary. He was right. No more lisp, and again, except when I get really nervous--“it's only temporary.”

I had a lisp for years and in 2nd grade I started speech therapy.  My speech therapists name was Mrs. Estes; I could not pronounce her name properly for quite a few months!

I was "dammed" two ways to Sunday as a child: Mum was Canadian, & I was required to speak the Queen's English. Second, I roamed the States (27 schools in all, K-12) and somehow managed to acquire the same diagnosis for most of my career: an aspirated lisp. I hissed the letter 's'. Neither I nor my classmates heard this impediment. The teasing I got was from having speech therapy - for 11 or so years. To compound matters, I am also gifted with languages. I studied Latin, German & Russian in high school, majored in languages in college, & now, thanks to Mum, many languages, & speech therapy, I have an enchanting accent that no one can place yet all recognize as "not American." Not all speech therapists were competent - I even felt sorry for one. He had the expected or nearly required fruity lisp and swish of the early '70's pre Aids gay man's club. I remember vividly that poor man telling me "if I thpoke like him, I would thimply be fine, thweetheart." in front of a bunch of redneck rural male teachers who regularly bragged about who gunned down or gutted the largest buck ever. To this day, decades later, I am told I speak ringingly clear, so I suppose that's a grand legacy of a decade of torture (She sells sea shells by the sea shore. The sixth shiek's sixth sheep is sick.... AAARGH!)