How to Teach the S Sound
The S sound should be developed by age 7, according to the Iowa-Nebraska Norms. Many people are familiar with the term ‘lisp’ and when people think of a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP), they usually think of them working on this sound (and often assume that is all we do 🫣). I would say that behind the R sound, S is the most commonly addressed sound in articulation therapy by SLPs. If a child has difficulty with S, they are referred to a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) for an evaluation and therapy. Below are a few tips on how to teach the S sound and ideas for practice activities ⬇️
Teach the S Sound
The S sound is somewhat visible, making it (somewhat) easy to teach. However, it is a tricky sound to address. I think one reason that S is difficult to address is that it is such a common sound (it’s in a lot of words), so the client gets a lot of negative practice by the time they come to speech. Other than R, it is the most common sound to address in articulation therapy by SLPs. Old habits can be hard to break, especially when it comes to S 😀
To produce this sound, have the client stick the tip of their tongue up behind their top teeth (not touching though) and blow air forward. SLPs usually refer to this as the leaky tire sound. Now, that being said there is actually a second way to produce S, although it is not very common. The second way is to stick the tongue tip behind the bottom teeth and blow air forward. These are referred to as tippers (tongue up) and dippers (tongue down). Which one are you?
The Z sound is just like S but voiced. Have the client stick their tongue up (or down) behind their teeth and turn their voice on. I rarely work on Z separately from S. I usually focus heavily on S and Z will naturally emerge as the client progresses.
For tricky words, view my post on Articulation Therapy Techniques for Tricky Words.
S Distortions
Most people are familiar with the term “lisp” and have a general idea of what it is. There are actually two types of S distortions. One is a lateral distortion and occurs when the client generally has the correct tongue placement but pushes the airflow around the sides of the tongue and out through the sides of the mouth. Think Sean Connery. The other type of distortion, and the most common one, is frontal distortion, which occurs when the client brings their tongue too far forward where it is between the top and bottom teeth. Think Mike Tyson. Depending on how far forward the tongue is, this distortion can be visible.
Activities for Practicing the S Sound
When first teaching a sound, stick with words or phrases that are easy for the client and that they can say over and over. A few examples are below to teach the S sound.
- Play I Spy and have the client focus on the word “spy.” If the blend is too difficult, have the client say “see”
- Since S is a frequently occurring sound, you can include S words in any craft- make a Santa, sea, or Superman and have the client say those words as they decorate the craft
- Have a pretend picnic and have the client name foods that start with S
- Play various sounds and have the client say “sounds like” and guess the sound
- Make a MadLibs and have the client fill in the blanks with target words that contain S
View my articulation cards for S HERE. What elicitation techniques do you use for S? What activities do you do for S? Let us know below ⬇️