Non-Speech Oral Motor Exercises (NSOME's) Archives - Page 2 of 3

Tag: Non-Speech Oral Motor Exercises (NSOME’s)

Sanitizing the Tools of Articulation Therapy

By Pam Marshalla

Q: We are wondering about hygiene and the use of tools in articulation therapy. What are the practices you use to keep your multiple-use tools sanitary from client to client? Guidelines Adhere to the following sanitary guidelines when handling objects that are used in, on, or around the mouth: Wood, paper, cardboard, sponge, cotton, leather, or hemp objects should be used once and then discarded. Dental floss also should be used once and then discarded. Plastic, rubber, vinyl, metal, and…

Exercise Routines

By Pam Marshalla

Q: Which of your books do you suggest for teaching me the number of repetitions or the amount of seconds for engaging in oral-motor exercises? I do not teach oral-motor techniques exercise routines. I teach oral-motor techniques to facilitate sound production. Therefore none of my books will give you that type of information. In general I do not measure the number of trials, or the number of seconds — I teach techniques to facilitate new movements for phoneme productions. The…

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…

The OM Controversy (again…)

By Pam Marshalla

Q: I am a special education advocate and I would like to discuss oral motor exercises with someone. An SLP at a district I’m working with stated, “There is no evidence that oral motor exercises are helpful for speech.” Is that true? This area is a mess. Professionals who bash oral-motor generally can be accused of the following: They don’t know what the term “evidence-based practice” really means. They are confusing the concepts of “evidence-based practice” with the concept of…

Banned from Pam Marshalla’s Seminars

By Pam Marshalla

Q: I am a CFY and my supervisor will not let me attend your seminars because she says that you teach oral-motor techniques for which there is no proof. I need help with the lateral lisp and the distorted R. What can I tell her to convince her to let me go? First of all, what right does your supervisor have to determine which continuing education seminars you can and cannot attend? Why are you giving her this power over…

Attaining and Maintaining Intelligibility with Dysarthria

By Pam Marshalla

Q: I have a ten-year-old client who is very hard to understand, although he has no specific phoneme errors. We’ve started doing a pacing board which is helpful. I know that oral-motor exercises are taboo these days, but I feel in some way I have to address motor weakness. The greatest and most effective technique for dysarthria is EXAGGERATION of speech. This is spoken of in virtually all books on traditional articulation therapy and more modern texts on motor speech…

Strengthening the Tongue?

By Pam Marshalla

Q: I have a child who has weakness in his tongue as evidenced by slight tremors when protruding. What exercises do you recommend to strengthen the tongue to increase articulatory precision? Have you ever taken a class of mine? If so you will recall that I never recommend exercises to strengthen the tongue. Instead I recommend activities to inhibit abnormal movements, and to facilitate appropriate oral stability and mobility. This is a very important question you have asked. Do you…

Exercise Routines

By Pam Marshalla

Q: Which of your books do you suggest for teaching me the number of repetitions or the amount of seconds for engaging in oral-motor exercises? I do not teach oral-motor as if it was an exercise routine; I teach oral-motor techniques to facilitate sound production. Therefore, none of my books will give you that type of information. I do no measures of number of trials, or number of seconds, etc.. Instead I teach how to facilitate a movement to achieve…

Horn Programs and Articulation Therapy

By Pam Marshalla

Q: I have a student I’ve worked with for a few years and she has several problems. I have tried everything I know, and nothing seems to help. She cannot say R, J, Sh, or Ch. She has difficulty with exhalation (i.e. she cannot blow out a candle) and therefore her speech is very quiet. She cannot even yell very loud. I’ve done some oral motor therapy (horn blowing hierarchy) and other things to address this, but it has not…

Two Different Motor Pathways Argument

By Pam Marshalla

Q: What is your argument when others say that we should not be doing oral motor techniques because there are two different motor pathways, one for speech and one for simple movement? I agree that simple non-task-specific exercises (i.e., “non-speech oral-motor exercises” or NS-OME) do not help speech. This is what recent research demonstrates. For example, if one were to ask a child to move the jaw up-and-down as an “exercise,” this indeed would have nothing to do with speech….