Oral Motor Exercises & Activities
Oral motor exercise or play (also known in the literature as oral motor exercises, oro-motor work, muscle based therapy, oral motor treatment, oral motor therapy, NS-OME, or teaching non-speech motor movements) is a great way to get started with a child that is not yet talking or imitating sounds and words.
Starting with blowing bubbles, party horns or blowing through straws is fun for any child and may also be engaging for a reluctant shy child. At the same time these fun activities can increase awareness and control the muscles of the mouth and face for eating, drinking, saliva control and speaking.
Oral motor play should not take the place of traditional speech therapy and in some literature is said to be an area of controversy, but it is often a good place to start having fun and developing early communication skills.
Children are fascinated with bubbles and even if they can’t blow yet, they will want to imitate a gesture, sign language, sound or word to request “bubble” or “more” to continue the activity. Some children learn to blow bubbles and horns on the first try, while other children have difficulty finding their mouth, accepting the texture of the bubble wand/horn, rounding their lips or sufficiently controlling their air flow. Children can be expected to learn to blow bubbles between 18 and 24 months of age. This is an indication that the child’s pediatrician should be consulted to make a referral to a speech and language pathologist.
A formal evaluation will reveal whether a child has an oral motor deficiency or disorder and whether professional intervention is needed. Children diagnosed with oral apraxia, verbal apraxia, cerebral palsy, autism or low muscle tone often may experience a mild to severe degree of oral motor difficulty.
In some cases children are not able to adequately eat, chew, swallow, suck, drink from a cup, control their saliva (drool) or speak. Oral motor treatment prescribed by a Speech Language Pathologist, or occupational therapist may involve specific techniques. Including
- oral muscular massage techniques
- desensitization exercises
- teaching compensatory movements
- augmentative communication
- the use of a Nuk Brush
, oral vibrator, or specialized eating utensils, bottles or cups.
The goal of such activities is to help the child gain oral motor control to eat, drink and speak. Therapists train parents to implement the use of these devices and develop oral motor programs specific to their childs special needs.
Free oral motor exercise ideas and activities!
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