By Pam Marshalla
Q: My male client is age 6. He has average intelligence, CP, and cleft palate. He was pre-mature and is non-verbal. He has been using an iPad with communication app “Words for Life” very successfully. He drools, can’t blow, barely moves his mouth, etc. He makes random vocalizations. Any ideas? This child represents some of the most severe we see. This is severe apraxia and dysarthria, with cleft palate thrown in just to make it interesting. Let us state bluntly…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: Could you advise where to find the best droppers for the dropper technique that you use for habituating the swallow and reducing drooling? I buy my droppers (pipettes) at Sally Beauty Supply, which I believe is a national chain, but you can really get them anywhere. The droppers look like the ones in the image to the right, but any plastic dropper would probably work. Your local pharmacy may carry them, or you can buy multi-packs on Amazon.com 🙂
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My 6-year-old male client drools has language and cognitive problems but no articulation problems, but he drools a lot. I know of your dropper technique. Should I use the dropper with him or just tell him to swallow every 90 seconds? As I am sure you know, a technique is just a technique. Therapy is all about finding out if a certain technique works for a certain client. Therefore in regard to this specific technique, if he can swallow on…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: I am using your eyedropper method for a non-verbal 5-year-old girl in the trainable cognitive level. She also has a neuromuscular disorder. We do it for 15 minutes and then she gets bored. Do you have advice? This is not the type of activity that you do for 15 minutes. Weave it in-and-out of other SL activities you are doing. Use the dropper procedure every 90 seconds while she is otherwise engaged. You want to stimulate her to swallow…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: What do you do for drooling? Do I need to be a swallowing expert to do it? I see drooling as a three-fold problem–– The child doesn’t swallow often enough. The child doesn’t swallow well enough. (He doesn’t evacuate completely). The child isn’t aware when saliva is building up in his mouth, on his lips, etc. (He doesn’t notice it or doesn’t care about it). So my therapy addresses all three of these issues–– I teach them to swallow…
By Pam Marshalla
This opinion paper was originally posted as a downloadable PDF on my website, authored in November, 2012. Download the original PDF here. *** “Marshalla Eye Dropper Technique” For Drooling Elimination November 2012, Pam Marshalla, MA, CCC-SLP Speech-Language Pathologist Application This simple process is to be done in conjunction with a good program to facilitate improved oral-motor and feeding skills. It can be employed even if child is on medication or has had surgery to reduce or eliminate drooling. This method is…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: My client is a five-year-old with polymicrogyria. He drools severely, eats only purees, basically is non-verbal, and has a non-verbal IQ of about 85. He is labeled as apraxic. Can you give me advice on how to proceed? I had not heard of this disorder, so I Googled it and found quite a bit under “polymicrogyria ” and “children with polymicrogyria.” Apparently it is a developmental malformation of the human brain characterized by an excessive number of small convolutions on the…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: I have a 15-months-old client with a repaired cleft palate who drools. Should I be working on the drooling issue? It is normal for a child to drool now and again until age three or so. I would not be concerned about the drooling unless the child was drooling profusely most of the time. If she were drooling most of the time, I would look at her feeding skills. Most children who drool to excess have feeding/swallowing issues as well….
By Pam Marshalla
Q: I have heard that we should avoid the topic of tongue-thrust therapy (orofacial myofunctional therapy). I’d like to hear your thoughts on this. In my experience, problems in articulation, orofacial myology, feeding, dysphagia, and motor speech disorders are all the same thing manifested in somewhat different ways and to various degrees. All of these therapies are about facilitating new oral movements and/or fixing incorrect oral movements. I have spent my entire career (since 1975) studying the research, clinical practices,…
By Pam Marshalla
Q: I am considering whether or not to purchase your book, How to Stop Drooling. I wondered if it would be appropriate for my 5th grade student? The book is appropriate for any person who drools to excess. Whether or not the ideas will help your specific student is unknown. The book contains practical ideas to consider for any type of client. Two other resources to consider: Rosenfeld-Johnson, S. (2005b) Drooling Remediation Program for Children and Adults. Tucson: Talk Tools. Johnson,…
