[ Post a Response | Articulation, Language, and Fluency ]
Posted by suzzyqb
on 12/8/2008, 4:21 pm
69.113.199.81
Hi. I'm a 2nd year grad student as well as a mom. My youngest son has a lateral lisp and received therapy for three years. He is currently 6 years old and was discharged from speech because he scored 22% on the GFTA. His speech is still very slushy. He often wipes at his mouth for saliva, which is not visible, but seems to be a habit for him. In addition, he has textural issues with foods. A slight jaw shift is also visible.
My questions are these (Sorry for the longwindedness of this message!):
1. In your experience do you find that there is usually a neurological basis for a lateral lisp. The reason for this question is I had a supervisor comment on a child she was observing who demonstrated a lateral and said in her experience there are usually neurological issues along with this).
2. If so, are oral-motor exercises then appropriate. The reason for this is in school we are being taught that there is no evidence to support oral-motor exercises unless a child has neurological symptoms. I was told in the absence of this, they are a waste of time as you are not able to strengthen typical oral musculature and that it takes very little strength for the act of speaking.
I know I need to put him back into therapy, however, I want to be sure that I armed with the appropriate knowledge when choosing my therapist (I have tried working with him but that mother/son thing gets in the way 
).
Any suggestions would be welcomed. I was wondering if some of the above could be considered neurological soft signs and what others experiences have been.
Thank in you advance!
Suzanne
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