So some of you may wonder, "Whats with the name?" Well, if you haven't figured it out, its supposed to be Lisp, like a speech impediment. I can't say my S's and for a while couldn't say my R's either. Though my mother has told me my S's have gotten better, I have actually started hearing how off they really are for the first time. I say something like "Man, school sucks." But it will come out, "Man, thkool thucks." Or maybe, "I went to a catholic mass today," becomes "I went to a castholic math today." See, even my Th's have been mistaken for poorly said S's. My lisp is one of the unique things about me, yet I had forgotten about it for a couple years. Get ready readers, funny story coming at you-
So I graduate from Elementary and I am handed this question. "Do I want to stick with speech classes so I can say my S's?" I had just mastered R's, but S's were a far off. I was told by all the adults that if I didn't get my speech impediment fixed, I would have a hard time finding a good job, because some people couldn't take me seriously. Really, a sixth grader would be worried about getting a good paying job. What kind of argument was that. I said no about fifty times before my parents and speech therapist gave up on me. And so junior high started. I was worried at first that I would be seen as a nerd because I couldn't talk right, because that's how nerds are portrayed on TV, so why shouldn't it be like that in real life. Well, that didn't happen, and no one mentioned my lisp all through junior high. By the time I hit ninth grade I had forgotten I had a speech impediment. So, half way through ninth grade geometry I get paired with this girl who seems nice and intelligent. After a few days of a group project she turns to me, cocks her head to the side and says "Why do you talk so weird." I stare at her, not quite sure what she means. "What," I reply, my mind tinkling a bell in the long forgotten memories of Elementary school. "Do you have some kind of accent. Where are you from?" She seems sincere, not wanting to hurt my feelings but really wanting to know what my problem was. The kid behind me turns to her and says harshly, "Whats your problem. That's super rude." Finally I realize what their talking about. My lisp. It was a shock to realize I still had it. "Oh, no, its not an accent. I have a lisp." I say it, not feeling ashamed in any way. "A what? I don't think that's a word." She says, staring at me like I'm crazy. "No no, its real. You haven't heard of lisps before?" Now I look astonished, and my group has completely lost focus on the project to listen to the conversation. "Seriously. You don't know what a lisp is. Your so rude to just tell him he talks funny. What kind of person does that." the kid behind almost loses it and starts laughing. "I'm sorry," she says, going red in the face and looking around at our group members. "No, its Okay. I just can't say my S's. (or as I said it to her, My Th'tthh) You should have heard me when I couldn't say my R's either." "Seriously," she says, eyes wide again. Then she looked back down. "I really am sorry. I didn't know some people couldn't talk right. Can it be fixed." she was now looking sympathetic, trying to divert the focus of her seemingly rude statement to how she felt bad for me. "Yeah, I used to take speech classes, but gave them up. My S's weren't improving." "Oh," she says. Most of the group has turned back to their work by now, and the conversation drops of. I felt bad for her, but inside couldn't help laughing at the fact that everyone thought she was being really rude to me, when I hadn't felt like she was being rude at all. Also I was a little surprised at myself for forgetting my lisp. For the rest of the class period I could help thinking about it.
So there you go. A short history and anecdote about my lisp and the reason why its my blogs name. This blog is for the uniqueness of humans. Therefore, my unique Lisp is the title for this blog. clever, huh? I thought so.
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