How Drew Barrymore Helped Me Learn To Love My Lisp

Growing up with a lisp incurs a certain amount of teasing. I may not have known that I had a speech impediment growing up, but as soon as I was surrounded by other kids my age, they made me aware (as schoolchildren are wont to do) of my side-talking. I tried and failed for years to get rid of it, and even learned in speech therapy that my style of speaking was mainly overpowered by a “sibilant ‘s'” – perhaps not as intense as your run-of-the-mill lisp, but certainly noticeable, and enough for me to be embarrassed when it became a joke to other people, even through high school. Why did it matter if my s’s were a little funny? I know now that it didn’t and it doesn’t (well, not really), but feeling like I’d missed some perfect speech memo was a huge blow to my self esteem. At some point down the road, it dawned on me: I wasn’t alone.

This lisp, in fact, was shared with one Drew Barrymore, an actress I’d watched and admired all my life. A woman I had never even noticed talked out of the side of her mouth, just like me. And to my total surprise, people still loved her. When I watched 50 First Dates or The Wedding Singer or Never Been Kissed, I didn’t see the lispy loser I’d been convinced I was. I saw a magnetic leading lady, a funny, energetic woman who moved and spoke with confidence. She wasn’t picked on for the way she spoke. People didn’t even see it. In fact, it might have even made her more endearing. Sure, people might indulge in a little side-mouth-talk now if they’re imitating her, but there’s never anything mean-spirited about it.

What was once a huge insecurity of mine became something of a badge of pride – the kind of pride that can only come with visibility. It’s so minor compared to the representation needed for so many individuals, but for me, it meant the world. And it still does. It might seem silly now, but as a tween with a lisp and a history of being bullied, this was revelatory. If America’s sweetheart and eternal everywoman Drew Barrymore could do all she did with the same speech pattern as me, why should I be ashamed? Why should I care if people make fun of me? She made it all seem so trivial. She helped me be a little less afraid to use my voice, sibilant ‘s’, side-moving mouth and all.

For a young girl in Central Florida who thought she might be labeled a loser forever, that lovely Barrymore lisp changed everything. I will sssshhh my way through any tongue twister thrown at me and deliver speeches with a crooked smirk till I’m blue in the face. So on this wonderful woman’s birthday, here’s a little side-mouth shoutout. You being you means more than you’ll ever know.