An oral motor evaluation determines WHY your child has difficulty saying specific sounds.

Individualized oral motor exercises target developing awareness, strength, coordination and mobility of the jaw, lips and tongue.
Using an oral motor / muscle based approach along with traditional articulation therapy (targeting individual speech sounds) typically increases a child’s speech clarity in conversation, rather than simply at the word level.

At first, a child may not have the muscle strength to say a specific sound. Sometimes it is best to strengthen the mouth muscles first, and then address the individual sound. Oftentimes, children begin saying sounds correctly simply by strengthening the muscles.

Exercises to improve oral motor strength may include exercises to improve jaw strength, lip rounding, tongue retraction (especially for tongue thrusters) and tongue tip development using hierarchical methods that target the necessary movements for effective speech production.

Exercises to be completed at mealtime may also be incorporated. We use the same muscles for eating that we use for speech. For example, when drinking from an open cup, a child should use his lips to take a sip, and not place his teeth (jaw) on the cup. It is best to see dissociation - the jaw, lips and tongue working independently.

Oral motor therapy may help resolve issues with drooling, thumbsucking and pacifier use.
Stephanie’s oral motor programs include reviewing oral motor exercises with parents / caregivers at the evaluation and at each oral motor therapy session, so the exercises can be accurately practiced for homework. Written detailed instructions are consistently provided. Parents are encouraged to call or email with questions about the homework in-between sessions to maximize skills.

Stephanie was selected to study oral motor / muscle-based speech therapy under the supervision of Sara Rosenfeld-Johnson, an innovative leader in oral motor therapy during the summer of 2006 at Talktools™ in Tucson, Arizona. Providing speech and oral motor therapy for children in New York City is a significant part of Stephanie’s clinical practice.