SIGN IN YOUR ACCOUNT TO HAVE ACCESS TO DIFFERENT FEATURES

FORGOT YOUR PASSWORD?

FORGOT YOUR DETAILS?

AAH, WAIT, I REMEMBER NOW!

Orofacial Myology

Helping Speech Pathologists and Dental Professionals with training, services and products.

954-461-1114
Email: info@orofacialmyology.info

Neo-Health Services, Inc.
Morrisville NC 27560

CALL US: 954 461 1114
  • LOGIN
  • HOME
  • Myo Info
  • Myo Training
  • Myo Products
  • Myo Therapists
  • Myo Videos
  • Qualification (QOM)
  • About Us
    • Sandra R. Holtzman
    • Becky Ellsworth
    • Karen Wuertz
    • Zohara Nguyen
    • Jamesa Treadwell
    • Carma Stump
    • Mackenzi Coker
    • Greta Vigil
  • MY CART
    No products in cart.

Tongue sucking child

Monday, 10 December 2012 / Published in Dental Hygienist, Dentists, occupational therapists, Orofacial Myologist, Orthodontist, Parents, physical therapists, SLP-A, speech languge pathologist, Teacher, Therapists, Uncategorized

Tongue sucking child

Hello!  I have a question, mostly about timing and involvement with a client and ortho needs…..but there is a secondary issue, as well. She has a high arched and narrow palate from digit sucking…..I’ll address this in a minute……so, what I see is good tip to spot, but she wants to “hang” the rest of the tongue during swallow of liquid and soft foods….I have pictures of her “suction” attached, and you can see that her tongue is in contact with her teeth….anyway…..is it possible that I can only get her to a certain point until she has palatal expansion or something in order to achieve that desired suctioning? 

1.  My main question:  She has been doing quite well with all exercises, but she does have a problem maintaining suctioning of the medial part of the tongue.

Why was she originally referred for therapy?  I understand about the former digit habit and will try to address the other problem in the next question, but are you working on the lingual posture? Lip posture?  Certain speech difficulties?  Eating issues?  Mouth breathing?  What you discovered during the examination might affect my comments.  I’m assuming that her lingual frenum is definitely within the normal range, right?    Okay, regarding the suctioning and medial part of the tongue:  From the photo, it appears that there is not much overflow, if any, suggesting that the palate is wide enough to accommodate the tongue’s “needs”.  The reason the mid portion of the tongue appears to be dipped is because she is not starting quite anterior enough with her placement.  I do believe she is capable of an acceptable suction, based on the two photos, but of course I can’t see everything.   The lateral borders of the tongue are supposed to support the tongue against the inside/lingual borders of the lateral dentition.  That is why we work on the bowl early on, to start developing the ability of the lateral ling borders to press adequately there, to allow the mobility of the rest of the tongue for speech production even as the sides offer stability.  The posterior suction release is critical and even if you have to start slowly or if you have to jump ahead to use the Diagonal Straw exercise to obtain it in reverse…that’s fine.  I have a feeling that there was something missed earlier, such as the posterior suction release or other area and I don’t move ahead to swallowing even if it means giving only one or two exercises at a time.  We don’t want to overwhelm a young kiddo with too many exercises at a time.  The main considerations are those on Prof Exam #1 and once they are truly passed or maximized, then it’s okay to ease into speech.  In her case, with the open bite, I wouldn’t address an /s/ or /z/ problem, by the way.  She should, however, be able to produce an acceptably strong CH SH DJ and ZH once the suctioning is mastered; and I would not expect /r/ or /l/ to be a problem to address either, once Prof #1 is completed.

OK – the digit sucking….

2.  She ceased this behavior, as of Fall – I’m thinking it was late October.  I have seen her, however, now enjoy a lot of tongue gymnastics, twising and curling her tongue between her front teeth – a form of tongue chewing, I would say.  Also, she has admitted to chewing on her coat collar “maybe every other day, just during recess” she says…..mom has checked on her nightly at least 2-3 times, and does NOT see thumb/finger sucking at night – there is an infant sharing her room, so mom goes in several times a night……anyway….quite oral, all the way around, loves any oral exercise I give her….like button pulls, etc. So, it is obvious that I do need to address this……SANDRA – I understand the conponents of ridding thumb/digit – what about this tongue chewing thing? 

Do you think that these behaviors were always present rather than having begun when digit sucking ceased?  Sometimes, tongue sucking, etc. goes unnoticed during the in-between times when thumb is not in mouth.  This question comes up quite often lately.  Since tongue sucking tends to be a dilemma for many, I’m attaching my comments to another SLP who contacted me about a tongue sucker recently.  There is no magic bullet and if you already used Unplugging The Thumb method for the digit, then it might be counter indicated because she has such familiarity with it.  If not, then my suggestions to the SLP on the attachment might be helpful for your client, also.  My best to you and your family….and I hope all is well.  I love being your Facebook buddy, by the way!

  Take care, Sandra   THANKS  let me know if you need additional info. to answer – I have 5 pics – I’ll put 2 here and 3 in another e-mail. J L 

What you can read next

orofacial-myology-nail-biting-habit
Ages for Growing the Nails
Terrible progress with /s/
My main concern is having an income while doing this…

Search

Archives

  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • May 2021
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • May 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010

Recent Posts

  • The McGurk Effect Game

    ...
  • orofacial-myology-jaw-deviation-and-speech

    jaw deviation and speech problems

    Does jaw deviation cause speech problems or vic...
  • orofacial-myology-overactive-mentalis

    overactive mentalis

    I’m trying to think of what exercises could hel...
  • HOME
  • Myo Info
  • Myo Training
  • Myo Products
  • Myo Therapists
  • Myo Videos
  • Qualification (QOM)
  • About Us
    • Sandra R. Holtzman
    • Becky Ellsworth
    • Karen Wuertz
    • Zohara Nguyen
    • Jamesa Treadwell
    • Carma Stump
    • Mackenzi Coker
    • Greta Vigil
  • GET SOCIAL
Orofacial Myology

© 2017 NEO-Health Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

TOP