Hi Sandra, I’m so sorry to be bothering you but hopefully this will be a quick question to answer. First I want to say how thankful I am to have taken your class. I’m sorry I can get a bit enthusiastic 🙂 Last week I conducted 4 Myo evals and plan a few more this week. My hopefully quick question is this: Must I wait until a palatal expander is taken out to begin therapy? I noticed one child had one but it didn’t cover the “spot.” I’m also thinking of my daughter, who will likely be getting one. Both my daughter and the other girl are able to click their tongues.
As a rule, it is usually better to wait. But let’s say you wanted to start on lip closure and “strength”…with some kids you could do that. I used to take kids who could suction flat with the expander, but there are too many other considerations. It is best to wait until the palate is as wide as it’s going to be and then you are working with more of the finished product! Otherwise, they may have to unlearn and relearn too many things. So, lips would be doable in most cases, but not the basic tongue skills.