Wondering what an error with the S sound sounds like? Just listen to a an interview with Mike Tyson. You’d notice that his tongue is between his teeth, and it almost sounds like he is making the TH sound.
Or if you listen to the interview with Barbara Walters, her S sounds kinda slushy and wet.
Unfortunately, difficulties with the S sound can strike anyone, even celebrities. In typical development, the S sound develops between the age of 3-4 years, so if a child is still not saying the S sound correctly by 5, it is a good idea to look into it.
What Happens When We Make the S Sound
To understand how we can treat the S sound, we first need to understand how the sound is produced.
Typically, when we make the S sound, our tongue tip is raised just behind our front teeth. The tip of the tongue is nearly touching the roof of the mouth, but not quite. Also, the sides of your tongue is curled upwards slightly to form a groove so the air can pass through. Here’s a video by Peachie Speechie with a good demonstration of what goes on behind the scenes when we make the S sound.
In addition, the lips should be parted and the corners slightly raised. Finally, your voice box is not sounding. This means the sound is purely a result of the air travelling through the spaces created in your mouth and through your teeth.
How to teach the S Sound
There are many causes to an S error and thus there is no one size fits all solution. In my experience, I find that it is more fruitful to identify where exactly the process is breaking down, and then focusing on correcting that area.
I have listed some good ways to work on correcting the S sound below. I have also broken them down into strategies that might work depending on the errors that the child is making.
Interdental lisp, see 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7.
Lateral lisp, see 1, 2, 6, 7.
Omission of the S sound, see 4.
Additionally, we should always aim to start from the least intrusive technique and work upwards from there. This means that we would go from verbal cues, and only move to visual and tactile cues if verbal cues are not working.
Verbal Cues
1) One good way is to tell the child to make the snake sound. You can do so by showing her a picture of a snake, and then modelling the way a snake sounds. Many children are able to produce the S sound with a simple verbal cue like this.
2) Another way I have found to work, is to get the child to produce the T sound quickly and repeatedly. As you get faster, you will start to notice that the T sound has adopted a hissing-like quality. This is because both the T and S require the tongue to be at the same position: just behind your top front teeth. Whereas the T sound results from a short burst of air, the S sound is a result of a continuous stream of air.
When the child achieves this hissing quality, I’d ask him to hold the sound to produce the S sound.
3) For a child who tends to produce the interdental lisp, a good way is to remind them to keep his teeth together. This prevents his tongue from poking between his two front teeth which turns his S into a TH. I like to use the analogy of keeping his “snake in the cage”, which give the child a more concrete image to work with.
4) If the child is omitting the S in her phrases and sentences, then it is necessary to help her alert to the sound. First, I’d pair the S sound with a hand signal. This is the signal I use.
The hand signal is a good and non-obtrusive way to remind a child to use the S sound when speaking and reading. At the same time, I might get the parents to practice reading a book every night and then use the S hand signal to alert their child to the sound. Once the child has gained a heightened awareness of the sound, she is less likely to miss it out.
Visual Cues
5) As a model, I’d place my two index fingers at the side of my mouth and stretching it upwards. I also remind the child that my teeth are together. I would also try it in front of the mirror, and encourage the child to do the same. This helps him achieve the correct mouth shape to produce the S sound.
6) Another tool I might use would be the Jumbo Mouth Puppet by Super Duper Inc. I’d show them the position of the tongue tip. The tongue tip is up behind the top front teeth, nearly touching the roof of the mouth. I’d also explain that the air is escaping along the groove of the tongue, and out through the teeth.
Tactile Cues
7) I usually reserve tactile cues for children who do not know where to place their tongue. I might use a tongue depressor to show them the area directly behind their top front teeth. Then I’d tell them to use their tongue to touch that spot, and lower it slightly so it is barely touching it. Finally, I’d tell them to direct the air through the centre of their mouth to help them achieve a beautiful S sound.
Once the child has achieved the S sound in isolation, I’d quickly move it to words and then phrases. At this point, I will also send home homework for parents to practice with their child at home.
Conclusion
There are many ways to work on the S sound. However the key to successfully correcting it is to identify where the process break down. Only by such focused targeting can we help a child to resolve his issues with this tricky sound. What other methods have you found to work for the S sound?
Check out tips to work on other speech sounds as well
How to teach the R Sound
How to teach the L Sound
How to teach the Th Sound
