Speech Therapy Tool to Correct The S Sound by Speech Buddies

Useful tool in teaching how to correctly pronounce S... but the real work involves in reminding the children to use it in every day speech

I'm an adult in my 40's who has had a lisp forever. At some point I saw myself speaking in a mirror and decided I just needed to do something about it. No video or training seemed to help me get the tongue position right. Anyone who's had a lisp knows it's difficult to be shown the proper position of the tongue relative to the teeth to make the sound. There's a huge difference in someone showing you how to make an "s" sound and then actually using the newly-formed sound in a sentence or conversation. It feels awkward and you feel stupid doing it, so you just largely give up. Anyway, this shows you where to put your tongue and then you practice the positioning with the tool in your mouth part of the time and then practice using without it. Then you practice with it, and without it - over and over. For the most part, this will show you how to form an "s" the first time you put it in your mouth. It's now up to you to practice it. It's a pretty simple looking thing, but it does work. I do very well today, and am less self-conscious. Occasionally, I get busy and lazy and start using the old lisp "s" position, but at least I'm aware and can get back to making the sound correctly. It's not an issue with the tool - merely with my level of self-discipline at times. Heck, I'm over 40 years old and the "new" s sound does feel awkward sometimes still, but the more I've practiced, the better it has gotten. If I had this tool as a kid, I doubt I'd have any issues at all today. Now, while I think this tool is exceptional, it is also very expensive. This tool is very simple and could be fabricated by an inventive person who can't afford this.

Waste of time. When you open the case you almost instantly regret the purchase. Everything looks cheap and should only cost no more that $30 for the tool. We used this for 2 weeks and didn't help at all. Returned the item for a refund.

my son has found this very helpful. he had done speech therapy as a little boy but then just stopped practicing his s's. the slurring sound of his s's was more evident when he was tired. he's now 11, and i felt we needed to do something to help him make a clearer sound. i asked him if he wanted to work with a speech therapist again or try this. he wanted to try this. i think he really appreciated the kinesthetic approach. now he knows where his tongue is supposed to go to make the sound clear. he is making much better s's now. yes, the tool is expensive. it's just a piece of plastic. however, it's more cost-effective and time-effective for us to use this than go to speech therapy. he needs to keep practicing but he's noticed the improvement and so have we.

Just doesn't work, it's really expensive for something that cost a few bucks to make and doesn't work.

My 5 year old son has an articulation delay, and we have spent time in and out of speech therapy since he was two years old. For the life of him, he could not figure out how to make a proper "S" sound. He omits the "S" sound at the beginning of most words, and has a problem keeping his tongue in his mouth while attempting this sound. We tried many "tricks" the speech therapists have suggested, but he simply couldn't get it. He was frustrated, and so was I. After spending nearly six hours doing research online one night, I came across the Speech Buddy. I was hesitant to spend so much money on something like this, but after seeing that it has a 30 day money back guarantee, I thought I'd at least give it a shot. Once we received it, my son tried it, and the first time he tried to make an "S" sound while it was in his mouth, HE DID IT! We were both freaking out! We only used it about 5 minutes each day, practicing "S" words, for about two weeks when he attempted the sound without his speech buddy and HE DID IT! Since then, we don't even need the tool -- he's working on incorporating the "S" sound in words every day, and little by little, he's learning to correct his old habits. From what I read of other reviews on this tool, I think it worked so well for my son because he had no other structural issues with his mouth or tongue, and he had full mobility of his tongue -- it truly just came down to him not knowing how to execute proper placement of his tongue while making this sound.

It broke after the first use and it's too pricey to justify its flimsiness..

My 8-year old son has problems with the "s" sound. He usually sticks his tongue out too far. He also has a palate expander and braces, which isn't really helping!! On the recommendation of the school speech therapist, we purchased the "S" speech buddy. He brought it to school today and the therapist emailed me that within a half hour, his speech was 100 times better!! I just heard him on the phone and it is like hearing a different child! And he was so happy and proud of himself!! I know it's expensive, but worth it to correct something that the speech therapist hasn't been able to correct in 3 years of speech therapy!!