Generally children can speak clearly when they are 7 years old. If the child is still slurred at that age, it helps parents try to help overcome it. Because, if not handled properly, slurred in children can continue into adulthood.
Usually slurred children cannot say words that use several types of consonantal letters, such as the letters D, L, N, R, S, T, or Z. If one of the letters is in the name, this may make Little is difficult to say. It is not impossible that these conditions can affect his confidence and have an impact on his social life as a whole.
Various Causes of Slurred in Children
There are several things that can trigger children to experience lisp, such as:
The use of pacifiers or pacifiers
The habit of sucking a pacifier can make the tongue accustomed to being pushed forward and between his teeth. This can make it unable to pronounce the letters S and Z clearly.
Tongue-tie
This condition, often called ankyloglossia, occurs when the connective tissue that sticks under the tongue, so that the bottom of the oral cavity is too short in size.
This condition makes the child's tongue movements become limited, so disturbing when talking, eating, and swallowing. Usually, this disorder occurs in newborns.
Large tongue or too protruding out of the teeth
This condition is also known as macroglossia. A large tongue can cause a child experiencing slurred. This condition is known as intergental slurred and often occurs in people with Down syndrome.
How to Overcome Lisp in Children
Parents can apply the following ways to overcome slurred in children:
- Get used to children drinking with a straw. This sucking motion with a straw can train the motor power of his mouth. This is important to develop his ability to speak.
- Practice the position of the child's tongue and mouth when pronouncing letters that are difficult to pronounce correctly. So that your child can remember it, invite him to practice in front of the mirror.
- Encourage children to play games that can train the motor power of his mouth, such as blowing a toy trumpet or blowing soap water bubbles.
- Ask the child to try to say his wishes clearly, before obeying.
- Teach children as often as possible to say words from letters that cannot be pronounced clearly.
As a preventative measure, it is recommended to limit or avoid using pacifiers. If it is needed, Mother can choose a pacifier with a size that is appropriate for the age or size of the mouth of the Little One.
Just use the pacifier only when he is going to sleep, then release the pacifier after your little one has fallen asleep. Avoid letting it use pacifiers all the time. But, it is advisable to keep him away from pacifiers when the child is 18 months of age.
If Mother and Father are worried about the lisp experienced by Little, it is advisable to take him to the speech therapy site. If it's necessary, ask your doctor about medical treatment that can be done to overcome it, for example frenuloplasty surgery if your child has tongue-tie.
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