Oral motor skills can be quite complex and involve the ability for the tongue, jaw, cheek and lips to move freely. It also involves coordination and strength of the muscles that control our face and mouth.
Signs of oral motor dysfunction include:
- Difficulty drinking with straw or cups
- Difficulty drinking from a bottle
- Difficulty talking
- Drooling
- Feeding issues
- Hyper gag reflex
- Limited tongue movement
- Messy eating habits
- Open mouth posture
How can we help?
Therapy that focuses on strengthening and bringing awareness to oral muscles can assist in improving, lip/mouth posture, drooling, eating and even speaking. We try to make the exercises and activities as fun and engaging as possible to decrease avoidance.