Brittni Stolp

All sounds are developmentally acquired by age. That being said, this is a very age appropriate sound substitute all the way to the age of 6 or 7. If this is the only sound he isn't producing, he most likely will not qualify to receive extra support. Other later sounds are: s, th, r. I would suggest you keep modeling it correctly for him for now.

Speech therapy can be for ANY age. You will have to seek out a clinic that sees adults which sometimes may be a little harder to find depending on your area, but YES adults can receive therapy.

Many children go through stages of dysfluency that is typical until the age of six. This happens off and on because of rapid speech sound and growing language acquisition. I would say if others have difficulty understanding him, his dysfuency continues for more than 6 months straight, it worsens, or his is becoming aware and sensitive to saying those words and sounds because of the difficulty; your should seek out help. Yes, this is an area that speech therapists are trained, though some more than others.

It is very common for a child who has difficulty communicating to show BIG behaviors due to being frustrated. You can work on talking about feelings when he is calm, and show alternatives to harming himself (hitting a pillow, deep breaths, squeezing a stress ball, pushing hands together in the center of his body, etc.). Because he is three use very simple language and a lot of modeling. Also, try to use very little to no language when he is upset, chances are when he is upset he is not processing at that time anyways. If you feel you need to interfere, try short and simple commands and then wait before giving another. There could also be other factors, if this continues after trying some strategies you could seek out help from contacting your local school district, pediatrician, or local clinics for speech therapy.

This is an interesting question, I have never heard if vertigo affecting speech but I could see how it may. I would contact your doctor about this. Is your hearing or eye sight impacted?

Yes, it definitely can over time because our hearing provides speech feedback naturally. If we do not receive that feedback we begin to form habits that are not being corrected.

It is hard to pin point what may be happening without a background. How old are you, any new/ big stressors, is this only happening in certain situations or times of the day, any other symptoms (dizziness, light headed, etc.). I would consult your doctor if you are having many symptoms and if it getting more severe.

There could be multiple factors. How old are you? Have you had your hearing testing recently? More stressed out or tired? Any other health changes? It is hard to pin point without knowing a background but I would say if you are worried you can also check in with your doctor for a referral to a local speech therapist.

You can always seek out a local speech therapist but here are some tips:

Practice. Practice. Practice!

The correct way to produce the /s, z/ sounds (which i'm assuming is when your lisp is taking place) is to:

bite back teeth together, smile, keep tongue behind teeth, raise mid tongue slightly up to roof of your mouth (sides of tongue should be touching back teeth), push air out of the front of your mouth.

You can practice in front of a mirror to make sure your getting it right. Practice in words first (at the beginning 'sam', middle 'massive', and end 'bass'), then short phrases, longer sentences, and then conversation. It will take time to break that habit but you will get it.

If still having difficulty it may be due to dentition (over or under bite).