Tongue Archives - Page 7 of 10 - Marshalla Speech & Language

Tag: Tongue

Oral-Motor/Artic Client

By Pam Marshalla

Q: My student has very uncoordinated oral movements and severely unintelligible speech. He is unable to elevate his tongue-tip, and therefore does not produce any alveolars. His S and Z are very frontal––like Th––and he reduces S-blends. How do I teach alveolars, and do I concentrate on S-blends or correct production of S and Z? Your client requires a whole semester class on how the body works, and how that plays into speech movement development. Questions like yours are the…

Starting Position for Speech Movement

By Pam Marshalla

Q: I am working on my master’s thesis on a topic related to the basis of articulation and the neutral/starting positions. I would like to expand my research beyond the linguistics domain into the neighboring fields of speed physiology and therapy. I read your notes “The Roles of Oral Rest Posture and Neutral Position in Articulation” and would like to cite it. Have you published it anywhere? Perhaps you have mentioned starting position in your other publications? I am currently…

Tongue Bowl Reflex (History and Definitions)

By Pam Marshalla

Q: I have been reading some of your material, and I am wondering if you can tell me where the term “Tongue Bowl Reflex” comes from? I made up the term Tongue Bowl Reflex and Tongue Bowl Response. In the 1970’s, the term “tongue bowl” was floating around among therapists who were involved in feeding, dysphagia, and oral-motor. I knew that the tongue bowl was a reflex from various readings I was doing, and I realized that no one had…

Basic Swallowing Therapy

By Pam Marshalla

Q: I have a teenage client with a reverse swallow pattern and related anterior open bite. I plan to teach him correct oral rest, to swallow in an anterior-to-posterior direction, and to increase his tongue strength. Does this sound right? Is there something I am missing? Training correct oral rest position and correct swallow movements are the right basic ingredients of this therapy. But remember that oral swallowing entails two types of tongue movements: The tongue movements needed for food…

Does Lateral Lisp Mean Dysarthria?

By Pam Marshalla

Q: I have heard you say that jaw sliding to the left or right can cause one type of lateral lisp. I have also heard you say that this type of jaw instability is seen in children with dysarthria. Are you saying that a lateral lisp is a form of dysarthria? Excellent question! No. I am not saying that a lateral lisp is a form of dysarthria. I am saying that clients with expressive speech deficit often have problems in…

A Challenge to the Oral-Motor Naysayers

By Pam Marshalla

Q: I am a professor and clinical supervisor in a prestigious university program. I do not see jaw or tongue movement problems in the articulation and phonology clients I supervise. Are you saying that someone like me does not have good observation skills? No. I am not saying that you have poor observations skills. I am saying that you have not been trained to see what is happening right in front of you. Consider this: An SLP must go through…

Widening the Tongue

By Pam Marshalla

Q: The handout from your live class on the lisps has a method called the “Medial Squeeze.” What is it, and what is it for? The Medial Squeeze is a method I developed to get the tongue to widen. The tongue needs to sit wide on the floor of the mouth at rest, it needs to be wide for a normal swallow, and it needs to stay wide during speech movement. Some of our clients squeeze the tongue medially during…

How to Suppress the Gag

By Pam Marshalla

Q: In a few of your blogs you mention that sometimes we have to teach a client to suppress his gag reflex. Why would you need to suppress the gag, and how does one go about doing it? The gag needs to be suppressed only if it is interfering with oral motor learning for speech and/or feeding. Severe Cases In the most severe of these cases, excessive gagging causes children to be unwilling to move and explore with the mouth. …

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…

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…