oral motor issues for toddlers

[aprilvaca04]

I am looking for any ideas / activities to do with a toddller( 2 yrs old ) who has oral motor issues. I would appreciate any input. Willing to try just about anything to help him. Also has sensory issues. Thanks.

 

[golfgal]

Have you had him evaluated by an Occupational Therapist? Call your school district and see what they have to offer. Most districts have early intervention programs to get kids on track to start kindergarten.

http://www.spdfoundation.net/

This is a great site for information and things to help. We did a lot of this with our oldest. I know of other kids that had oral sensory issues and one thing they did with them was chew on balloons, make them make knots with balloons in their mouth, etc. However for a 2 year old, probably not a good idea.

 

[sherry]

Two things I remember doing were playing with shaving cream mixed up with paint and making a pool of rice, she played in it and searched for hidden toys.

 

[SunshineOR]

Playdough is great for strengthening the hands. Puzzles are great for hand-eye coordination. Getting out walking and to playgrounds and generally being active helps gross motor development.

Speech issues are harder because they take a lot of time. Just keep talking and gently repeating and having the child try as much as they're willing without getting frustrated. It's important to not be pushy or being the teacher because the child can shut down and not want to try if they get frustrated or insecure about it. Just try to sit and read and play with your child and ask lots of questions about the toys and books and try to encourage conversation with occasional gentle corrections.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Here are some oral motor exercises the speech therapist does with my special ed preschool students:

- Use a straw to blow a cotton ball across the table. Make a little goal and turn it into a hockey game.

- Blow whistles or horns (like birthday party noisemakers).

- Blow bubbles with a bubble pipe or wand. Aim for only air escaping the mouth (no spit!).

- Chew gum (if the child if old enough) or chewy foods like crusty bread, fruit rolls, carrots, celery, etc.

- Move the mouth by forming a kiss and then smiling over and over.

- Make popping sounds or blow raspberries with the lips. Most kids love these.

- Try to have the child drink with a straw as much as possible. It forces the mouth muscles to exercise. Try to avoid sippy cups with large spouts since the mouth doesn't have to do much to use them.

- Use a toothbrush to lightly brush the lips and insides of the cheeks before doing mouth exercises. This helps to wake up the nerves.

Hope this helps!

 

[aprilvaca04]

Here are some oral motor exercises the speech therapist does with my special ed preschool students:

- Use a straw to blow a cotton ball across the table. Make a little goal and turn it into a hockey game.

- Blow whistles or horns (like birthday party noisemakers).

- Blow bubbles with a bubble pipe or wand. Aim for only air escaping the mouth (no spit!).

- Chew gum (if the child if old enough) or chewy foods like crusty bread, fruit rolls, carrots, celery, etc.

- Move the mouth by forming a kiss and then smiling over and over.

- Make popping sounds or blow raspberries with the lips. Most kids love these.

- Try to have the child drink with a straw as much as possible. It forces the mouth muscles to exercise. Try to avoid sippy cups with large spouts since the mouth doesn't have to do much to use them.

- Use a toothbrush to lightly brush the lips and insides of the cheeks before doing mouth exercises. This helps to wake up the nerves.

Hope this helps!

Perfect! Thanks so much. We have been doing some of these but are looking forward to trying the new ones.

 

[belle&sebastiansmom]

My 2 yr old has oral motor problems and has been in speech therapy for about 8 months. His therapist tries to "wake up" his mouth, tongue, and cheeks. She puts peanut butter, pudding, yogurt (something like that) on the outside of his mouth and lips and make him only use his tongue to clean it off. I was shocked when she first began doing this with him that he was really unable to move his tongue outside his mouth well. She also puts a food item on a spoon and makes him reach for it with only his tongue.

Also, she massages and has me do it several times a day, the inside of his cheeks. Put one finger on the inside of his cheek and the other on the outside, add some pressure, and rub in a C pattern from the top of his cheek to his lips. Do it both sides.

Use a battery operated tooth brush to add more sensation, even if your child just holds it to the outside of his mouth the vibrations help to stimulate the nerves and also helps with sensory issues. For my son's sensory issues she recommends lots of touches and massages, especially of the face and head.

Also, youtube speech apraxia or speech therapy. There are a lot of videos that have been posted of therapy sessions that may give you some ideas. One that I took away from watching was a therapist began her session by running a make up brush all over the child's face. Tickled those nerves and the child thought it was funny.

Good luck. It's so hard. My son still has no speech but he's really coming along with his signing and his tongue and mouth are working much better now.

 

[mjkacmom]

Is your child currently receiving speech therapy? Ds7 started at 20 months (no language and a huge drooler), and it worked wonders! She worked with him in another room, but I remember her having me buy him crunchy and spicy food.

I had him evaluated by EI at 15 months, he didn't qualify (because he was so young), but they hinted to call them back at 18 months if the situation didn't improve, which I did, and he qualified.

 

[tiggger1]

We have a plastic table mirror that we got from EI. We put yogurt on it and Chase has to lick it off. He thinks it hysterical. We also do the yogurt/pb on the outside of the lips...We also take scraps of paper and roll them into tiny balls and play football on the table by blowing them into the goals..(straws.)

Its not oral motor but we also have a sensory box. it has dried rice/noodles and we add tiny toys, yarn pom poms and these cool little foil pom poms. I give him a tiny cup and some spoons and he goes to town