Feeding issues may include, but are not limited to: “picky” eating, refusing to eat, choking, gagging, food pocketing, drooling, difficulty transitioning to more demanding textures, and difficulty with cup drinking. Feeding issues often require Oral Motor therapy. A feeding technique often used with babies is a spoon-feeding method that helps achieve lip closure and diminishes [...]

Drooling can often be eliminated through improving awareness and oral motor exercises. Click on a negative oral habit to learn more: Thumb, finger, shirt and object suckling Pacifier use after 12 months of age Bottle and Sippy Cup usage after 12 months of age These habits may directly interfere with speech (articulation) and feeding skills.

Oral motor therapy uses a variety of child friendly exercises to develop awareness, strength, coordination and mobility of the mouth muscles (jaw, lips and tongue). It is often used in conjunction with traditional articulation (speech) therapy where individual sounds are addressed according to the child’s mouth muscle skills.  For example, if a child has difficulty [...]

Does your child have difficulty saying specific sounds? If so, your child may benefit from oral motor therapy. A typical articulation assessment examines which sounds your child has difficulty producing. An oral motor evaluation determines WHY your child has difficulty saying specific sounds. Individualized oral motor exercises target developing awareness, strength, placement, coordination, and mobility [...]

Stephanie Sigal is a Manhattan speech therapist offering pediatric speech therapy, oral motor therapy, language therapy, as well as kindergarten prep. Articulation and Oral Motor therapy and evaluations are conducted on children. A traditional articulation evaluation examines which sounds your child is having difficulty producing. An oral motor evaluation determines WHY your child has difficulty [...]

A speech therapist recently wrote to me about a child she is working with. Some of the information has been edited for privacy purposes. Question: Stephanie, I am working with a 6 year old boy who is drooling. He had his adenoids recently removed. His parents have noticed a decrease in his drooling, but the problem [...]

Why does my child drool and what can I do to help him?Drooling may occur for a variety of reasons (e.g., reflux, allergies, teething) but when it is due to weakness or low muscle tone of the mouth, it is a speech therapist you whom you should consult.  I am a speech therapist and I [...]