Oral Motor Dysfunction
What Is An Oral Motor Dysfunction?
Oral motor skills include strength, coordination, awareness, and movement of the tongue, jaw, cheeks, and lips. An oral motor dysfunction is defined by Allina Health as the inability to use the mouth effectively for speaking, eating, chewing, swallowing, or making specific sounds.
This kind of disorder is caused by a malfunction where the brain attempts to send signals or messages to mouth muscles, but the muscles do not receive or interpret the signals properly. This results in the muscles either freezing up or moving incorrectly. Another cause of this disorder is the low muscle tone of the tongue, lips, or jaw.
A Therapy Care therapist can properly assess your child’s condition to determine if they have an oral motor dysfunction.
How Can Therapy Care In Batavia Help My Child?
At Therapy Care in Batavia & Port Charlotte, our team of expert Pediatric Therapists is dedicated to providing the highest quality care for your children. We understand the challenges that these conditions can pose to both children and their families, and we are committed to helping children overcome these challenges and achieve their full potential.
When you bring your child to Therapy Care, our team will start by conducting a comprehensive assessment of their condition. This assessment will help us to identify the specific areas of difficulty that your child is facing, and develop a personalized treatment plan tailored to their unique needs.
Through a combination of targeted exercises, personalized therapy sessions, and ongoing support and guidance, we can help your child improve their ability to speak, eat, and swallow properly. Whether your child is struggling with dysphagia, dysarthria, or any other type of oral motor disorder, our team has the expertise and experience needed to help them succeed.
There are multiple signs of oral motor dysfunction issues that can present themselves in children, including:
- Holding their mouths open
- Having trouble using drinking straws
- Drooling
- Inability to stick out their tongue or move it around
- Difficulty making or imitating sounds and oral movements
- Messy eating habits
We encourage your child to improve these skills in a warm, fun, inviting environment by helping them to strengthen weak oral muscles of their lips, tongue, and jaw. Exercises may include activities such as blowing bubbles, using straws, whistling, or moving oral muscles by making silly faces.
Our approach to therapy is designed to be both effective and compassionate. We work closely with parents and caregivers to ensure that they are fully involved in the treatment process and that they have the resources and support they need to help their child succeed. With our expertise in oral motor dysfunction and our commitment to providing the highest quality care, we are confident that we can help your child achieve their goals and reach their full potential.
A speech therapist can help determine why your child is having trouble with feeding, speaking, or swallowing, as well as create a treatment plan that will teach them how to eat, drink, and communicate without restrictions.
Ready To Contact Our Batavia Team?
Therapy Care in Batavia & Port Charlotte pediatric speech therapists help children establish their speech and language skills for effective eating, drinking, and communication. If you believe your child is not meeting the proper milestones in regards to their speech or language skills, call us today.
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- Jennifer Herrera
Margert is my sons speach therapy. She is a very nice and outgoing person , she has a lot of patience and is very creative in ways to help my son communicate. She is very joyful person to have around my son she always makes him smile and laugh and she never gives up on him even if he gets frustrated. I’m so lucky to have her as my son’s therapist 🤗
- Alina Martin
We had the pleasure of working with Ms. Erin Jackson! Sweet, kind, welcoming, and always with a bright smile to greet us! She helped my son develop in speech and worked with care and patience. She created a friendly, warm environment and always made my son feel comfortable to play an learn at his own pace. Our weekly visits not only improved my son’s speech but his social abilities to interact with others. I’m truly grateful for the help and care she provided for my son!