Oral Motor Archives - Page 15 of 23 - Marshalla Speech & Language

Category: Oral Motor

Using the Tongue Bowl Reflex

By Pam Marshalla

Q: What is the purpose of stimulating the Tongue Bowl Reflex (TBR)? Isn’t a reflex passive movement? What are we trying to achieve when using a reflex like this? I have chosen to answer your question with material from my next book, The Marshalla Guide to 21st Century Articulation Therapy. The following is abstracted from my chapter called “The Speech Reflexes: Stimulating Automatic Speech Movements”: Theory Reflexes are considered the first movements in the process of human movement development. Speech…

Why Use Raspberries?

By Pam Marshalla

Q: I just heard the term “velar raspberry.” I feel silly, but I don’t know what it is or why I should be concerned about it. Raspberries are grossly-fricated sounds that babies begin to produce between 4-6 months of age. You know the sound one makes when one sticks the tongue between the lips and blows? That is a raspberry. It is a sound children use to express derision– mockery, scorn, distain, ridicule, and contempt. Raspberries emerge before babbling does,…

Never Too Late For a Lingua Frenectomy

By Pam Marshalla

Q: Is there an age when surgically altering the lingua frenulum is too late? It is never too late to surgically alter a lingua frenum for improved speech function, except perhaps in the case of degenerative disease. The surgery simply frees the tip of the tongue. It allows the tongue a greater range of movement no matter the age. However, just because the tip is clipped does not mean there is an instant fix to speech. Some clients get very sloppy…

Comparison OMT and NS-OME

By Pam Marshalla

Q: In your class on apraxia, I listened while you described the difference between an “oral-motor technique” (OMT) and a “non-speech oral-motor exercise” (NS-OME). I understood what you were saying at the time, but when I got home and looked at my notes, I found that I didn’t quite get it. Can you give an example to explain this to me? The OMT and the NS-OME are two completely different concepts. The difference between them has to do with the…

Thumbsucking to Move Facial Bones?

By Pam Marshalla

Q: Do you have any thoughts on thumb sucking as a way to move facial bones? One of my four-year-old clients is a frequent thumb sucker. A professional on my team wants to encourage the habit to move this child’s facial bones as part of her craniosacral therapy. The therapist says that the child’s thumbsucking is “a pathological compensation for a structural anomaly.” Now the staff thinks that this child’s thumb sucking is okay. What do you have to say about…

Homework for Open Mouth Posture?

By Pam Marshalla

Q: I have a preschooler with an open mouth posture and forward tongue carriage. What homework for parents would you suggest? Should the Mom remind her to keep her mouth closed during play? Treatment and homework activities depend completely upon the cause of the problem. She keeps her mouth open too much of the time. Why? The answer to that question guides your assignment of any activities, whether they are performed in the therapy room or at home. There can…

Stimulating L

By Pam Marshalla

Q: How do you teach L for a client who cannot do it at all? These are the types of things I do in whatever order fits the needs of the client: Primitive Movement Teach a primitive L that is made with jaw movement. Have the client stick out his tongue-tip so that it sits between the teeth, and then have him move the jaw up-and-down. This is going to sound and look like the way a baby “lolls” –…

Scoring System on the Marshalla Oral Sensorimotor Test (MOST)

By Pam Marshalla

Q: I was very excited to get your test, the MOST. Can you explain the scoring system to me? We had to design the Marshalla Oral Sensorimotor Test (MOST) so that therapists who had no prior information about oral-motor assessment could administer and score it. Original Design I originally designed a 7-point scoring system, with one score for Pass, and six different scores for Fail. The seven-point scoring system was designed to reveal subtle differences in oral motor skill between one…

Lip Trainer

By Pam Marshalla

Q: Do you know anything about the Lip Trainer? Do you think it has any uses in articulation therapy? I have not used a Lip Trainer, however, it looks just like another version of the Lip Gym, which I have used to increase action of the orbicularis oris (OO). These types of devices can be used to facilitate action of the OO. Two basic methods of muscle stimulation are employed: Stretching and Resistance. Stretching A muscle is stretched to activate…

Habitual Tongue-Clicking in Low-Functioning Client

By Pam Marshalla

An SLP wrote about a 12-year-old client with cerebral palsy who constantly makes sucking noises with her tongue. The therapist was seeking information about how to eliminate the habitual sucking that was distracting in the classroom. More information about this client was gained through email exchange. The additional information and my responses are offered here. The client has a cognitive age of 6 months With a cognitive level of 6 months this client is functioning just above the reflex level,…