Tagged "Oral Motor Therapy"


Ask a Therapist: Physical Therapist Question on Oral Motor

Posted by Deborah Grauzam on

Hi,

 

I am a physical therapist working in Early Intervention in NJ. I have a 12 month child that I suspect has an undiagnosed syndrome. She has very low muscle throughout. Her cognitive level is about 6 months. She cannot sit unsupported. She can imitate a play action. She is making very few sounds. Frequently sticks out her tongue, open mouth posture. She can only eat pureed foods. I called for a speech assessment and was told by the Speech Therapist that there is no evidence that Oral Motor Therapy can help her speech at this age. Is that true?

Thank you for your help!

 

Tal

 

Dear Tal, 

Thank you for your question.  My name is Monica Purdy and I am a speech and language pathologist that also specializes in oral placement therapy and feeding. There is a lot of research on oral motor and the effectiveness and evidenced based information. If you visit this page on the TalkTools website you will find articles that you can print off and give to the speech therapist. Many speech therapists assume when someone mentions "oral motor" that they are referring to exercises such as "tongue wagging" (moving the tongue from side to side outside of the mouth), puffing the cheeks, and/or elevating the tongue to the nose or chin (again outside of the mouth). These activities do not have any support and are not related to speech or feeding and should not be used. However as you know being a physical therapist you can address muscle function by working on stability, dissociation, grading, precision and endurance in order to help a client with feeding and speech intelligibility. At TalkTools we do this by using kinesthetic feedback or tactile cues to help a client achieve these skills. Many times we work on feeding because it is a precursor to speech and we can prevent speech sound distortions from occurring if we address the muscles in feeding.   

I hope this helps, if you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact me. 

Monica Purdy, M.A., CCC-SLP

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Ask A Therapist: Blue Chewy Tube

Posted by Deborah Grauzam on

Hi TalkTools,

 

I have a new patient who is 2 years and 7 months old. His tactile system is not organized at this time. He has bit chunks out of his crib. I recommended the blue Chewy Tube to help give him the prop he is seeking; however, his mom said he throws it. He enjoys biting the red Chewy Tube. Should I recommend she allows him to use the red to chew in spite of it being a therapy tool?

 

I look forward to your response. Thank you for having a question based email account. It is such a beneficial service.

 

Amy

 

Hi Amy,

I would not recommend him chewing on the red Chewy Tube on his own. What I would recommend is having the mom do his chewing exercises that you recommend multiple times a day when he is seeking that input (ex: he will chew on the red Chewy Tube 6 times on both sides). I know it is a huge commitment on her part but this will help strengthen his jaw while giving him the sensory input he is seeking. I would explore other chewing items that he might like and let him control those, but not the red. 

I hope this helps.

Let me know if you have other questions.

Thanks,

Liz

 

Elizabeth Smithson, MSP, CCC-SLP is a Speech-Language Pathologist who has over 10 years of professional experience working with infants, children, adolescents and adults. She earned her Master of Speech Pathology at the University of South Carolina. Liz is also a Level 5 TalkTools® Trained Therapist. She has received specialized training in Oral Placement Therapy, Speech, Feeding, Apraxia, Sensory Processing Disorders, and PROMPT©. Liz works with clients with a wide range of disabilities including Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, and Spinal Muscular Atrophy.  She works through her own private practice Elizabeth Smithson Therapy, LLC in the home setting and in the TalkTools® office in Charleston, SC.

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Ask A Therapist: Sound production roadblock

Posted by Deborah Grauzam on

Hello therapists,

 

My daughter has been working on TalkTools program since she was 3 months old. She bites well on chewy tubes (red and yellow), does her straw drinking and cup drinking. Here are my few questions:

 

1) My daughter seems to be drinking well from cup and does horn exercise well, but we have a hard time translating the horn exercise to "m" sound. Do you have any advice to encourage the "m" sound?

 

2) We feel like we are reaching a roadblock with her exercise because we cannot get her to make sounds that we want, i.e.: "mmm," "me," "moo," etc. She would round her lip but has a hard time saying "wooo" or "oooo". Is there any exercise we should work on to help with making those sounds?

 

Thanks a lot, we love your program a lot and hope to hear from you!

 

Jessie

 

Hi Jessie,

Thank you for your questions. I would try the Apraxia Shapes. They are great. They will help you with exactly what you were describing in both your questions. I believe that they will be able to bridge the gap for you. There is a video that you can watch to show you exactly how to use them and instructions that come with the tools.

Please let me know if you have any other questions. I am happy to help anyway I can.

Have a great day.

Thanks,

Liz

 

Elizabeth Smithson, MSP, CCC-SLP is a Speech-Language Pathologist who has over 10 years of professional experience working with infants, children, adolescents and adults. She earned her Master of Speech Pathology at the University of South Carolina. Liz is also a Level 5 TalkTools® Trained Therapist. She has received specialized training in Oral Placement Therapy, Speech, Feeding, Apraxia, Sensory Processing Disorders, and PROMPT©. Liz works with clients with a wide range of disabilities including Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, and Spinal Muscular Atrophy.  She works through her own private practice Elizabeth Smithson Therapy, LLC in the home setting and in the TalkTools® office in Charleston, SC.

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Ask A Therapist: Open Mouth Posture

Posted by Deborah Grauzam on

Hi TalkTools,

 

I have purchased the Jaw Grading Bite Blocks to assist a client I have who has an open mouth posture most of the time and some significant difficulty with articulation and moderate amounts of drooling. Unfortunately I think I was premature in attempting the Bite Blocks assessment. I read through the book Oral Placement Therapy for Speech Clarity and Feeding thoroughly before beginning. He had a lot of difficulty attending to the specific directions I was giving. In addition, when he did bite down on the #2 block at the very beginning of the assessment, his jaw kept moving laterally. He doesn’t have a “natural bite”.

 

Could someone please advise me as to how I should proceed with this client?  I’m new to the TalkTools world and would appreciate an idea on where to start with this client.

 

Karen

 

Hi Karen,

I would advise that you work on the Bite Tube Set starting with the Red Bite Tube. This will work on your client's jaw strength and as you work through the bite tubes you can revisit the bite blocks. You would look to see if he is later able to achieve the "natural bite" and "bite hold" required with the bite blocks. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks,

Liz

 

Elizabeth Smithson, MSP, CCC-SLP is a Speech-Language Pathologist who has over 10 years of professional experience working with infants, children, adolescents and adults. She earned her Master of Speech Pathology at the University of South Carolina. Liz is also a Level 5 TalkTools® Trained Therapist. She has received specialized training in Oral Placement Therapy, Speech, Feeding, Apraxia, Sensory Processing Disorders, and PROMPT©. Liz works with clients with a wide range of disabilities including Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, and Spinal Muscular Atrophy.  She works through her own private practice Elizabeth Smithson Therapy, LLC in the home setting and in the TalkTools® office in Charleston, SC.

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Ask A Therapist: oral motor therapy services report for insurance

Posted by Deborah Grauzam on

Hello,

I am trying to write a report to justify services to insurance for oral motor therapy.  The client I am working with has Down syndrome, he has had difficulty with chewing recently and his speech has become more slurred according to family. I purchased the CD "OPT Goals & Objectives for IEPs and Insurance Reimbursement" but am having much difficulty writing a report.  Do you have any sample evaluation reports available?

Peni

 

Hi Peni,

We unfortunately do not have examples of reports to offer but we do have sample evaluations and program plans in Sara Rosenfeld-Johnson's new book A Therapist's Guide to Rehabilitative Feeding and Speech Techniques for Teens and Adults and her book Assessment and Treatment of the Jaw. The first book mentioned focuses on adults but includes diagnostic codes and treatment codes for each example patient. They are not ICD-10 codes but they can be converted on the ASHA website. The second book has children examples (an infant with Down Syndrome) but no codes. I am not sure which book would fit your needs best but I wanted to give you options. I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks,

Liz

 

Elizabeth Smithson, MSP, CCC-SLP is a Speech-Language Pathologist who has over 10 years of professional experience working with infants, children, adolescents and adults. She earned her Master of Speech Pathology at the University of South Carolina. Liz is also a Level 5 TalkTools® Trained Therapist. She has received specialized training in Oral Placement Therapy, Speech, Feeding, Apraxia, Sensory Processing Disorders, and PROMPT©. Liz works with clients with a wide range of disabilities including Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, and Spinal Muscular Atrophy.  She works through her own private practice Elizabeth Smithson Therapy, LLC in the home setting and in the TalkTools® office in Charleston, SC.

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