Why Pediatric Therapy is the Right Choice for Managing Oral Motor Dysfunction
Have you noticed that your child struggles to use their mouth properly? Perhaps they have difficulties chewing or swallowing. Maybe they tend to drool or can’t form words properly. All of these symptoms can indicate an oral motor dysfunction – but Skills on the Hill offers the tools your child needs to overcome their challenges!
But what exactly is oral motor dysfunction? Let’s break it down word by word:
- Oral means related to the mouth and, in this context, refers to the muscles of the tongue, jaw, cheeks, or lips
- Motor means movement
- Dysfunction means impairment
An oral motor dysfunction, then, is any impairment in the mouth muscles. The cause of these impairments can vary. It may be that your child’s brain isn’t sending the right signals to their mouth muscles, or it could be that those muscles are weak. Either way, our pediatric therapists can help you understand your child’s particular situation and provide solutions to address it!
At Skills on the Hill, we take a fun, play-based approach to addressing oral motor dysfunction in children. From diagnosis to the therapy sessions themselves, we want your child to enjoy themselves as they work on strengthening and improving the function of their mouth’s many muscles.
To learn more about our approach to treating oral motor dysfunction, schedule an initial consultation today!
Signs, Symptoms and Accompanying Conditions of Oral Motor Dysfunction
Because oral motor dysfunction is an umbrella term that encompasses several different motor disorders, symptoms can vary. However, there are some signs that you can watch out for:
- Your child struggles to breathe through their nose and tends to breathe through their mouth instead
- Dental problems such as an overbite or underbite
- Messy eating habits. While some messiness is expected in infants, it’s much less common as your child grows
- Limited or unusual tongue movements (such as pushing the tongue out through the teeth)
- Drooling, particularly after your child is two years old
- Difficulty speaking or saying certain sounds
Just as the symptoms of oral motor dysfunction can vary, so can the causes. Potential causes include the following:
- A blocked nasal passage (such as from oversized tonsils). If your child struggles to breathe their mouth, this might be the culprit.
- Differences in facial structure or musculature that cause a misplaced tongue or an inability to keep the mouth closed
- Chronic sucking habits (i.e., sucking the thumb) that persist past 3 years of age
Often, these causes have their roots in another condition. In fact, many children with oral motor dysfunction have another condition that might contribute to their symptoms, such as cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, or a cleft palate.
The first step to addressing your child’s symptoms is understanding their causes. Our pediatric therapists know that every child is different, so we’ll work closely with you, your child, and your child’s care team to dig down to the source of their oral motor impairments. That way, we can provide the best treatment to manage (or maybe even resolve) their chewing, swallowing, and speaking difficulties.
How Pediatric Therapy Helps Address Oral Motor Dysfunction
Once we understand your child’s condition, our therapists will create a personalized treatment plan to help your child build strength and coordination in the muscles of their tongue, jaw, throat, mouth, and face. We primarily do this through playful exercises. Here are some examples:
- Ask your child to do the Hokey Pokey with their tongue and cheeks. Instead of “Put your right foot in!” we might ask your child to “Put your tongue in the right cheek!”
- Play the kazoo
- Blow bubbles
- Move cotton balls around or pick up a scrap paper by blowing into/sucking on a straw
- Eat popsicles. Besides being delicious, eating a popsicle helps develop the muscles necessary for oral movements.
- Deep breathing mouth exercises
Keep in mind that these are just a sampling of the exercises we may use with your child. However, they’re a great illustration of our approach to pediatric therapy: namely, it shouldn’t feel like therapy at all!
If your child has a blocked nasal passage or unnecessary sucking habits, complete treatment may require a multidisciplinary approach–such as a visit to an allergist or an orthodontist. We can make any necessary recommendations to ensure your child gets the care they need.
What Your Child Can Expect During Appointments
The initial appointment will focus on assessing your child’s condition so we can make the best recommendation for their care. We’ll ask you to complete a health history, including any medical conditions, your child’s developmental milestones, respiratory habits, dental history, and more.
Your child, meanwhile, will spend time playing and interacting with one of our pediatric therapists so that we can look for any potential issues, including structural differences in their face and mouth, speech impairments, swallowing difficulties, and more. We always aim to keep these observational tests informal so your child doesn’t feel the pressure or stress of being tested.
Once we understand your child’s unique needs, we’ll make our recommendations for care. At subsequent appointments, our therapists will use play-based techniques to address the areas where your child needs the most help.
We’ll also provide you with activities and other strategies that you can do at home. This allows your child’s therapy to continue even when they aren’t in our clinic–and gives them the best chance for success.
Schedule An Appointment Today!
Oral motor dysfunction can be alarming, but the good news is that most children respond well to treatment. Of course, the sooner you begin that treatment at Skills on the Hill, the better your child’s outcomes will be!
If you suspect your child has an oral motor dysfunction, schedule an initial consultation at our Washington, DC or Arlington, VA clinic today.
Sources:
https://www.asha.org/practice-portal/clinical-topics/orofacial-myofunctional-disorders