As speech pathologists, we always get this question: What is tongue thrust, and how can it be treated? Tongue thrust is when the tongue protrudes past the teeth during speech, eating, or at rest. Although tongue thrust is a typical pattern/reflex in infancy, it can become a habit causing difficulty
In my previous blog posts, I walked you guys through what Phonological Awareness is, why these skills are vitally important to the development of reading in children, and the five areas of Phonological Awareness that are vital to reading success. As a refresher, these skills include Rhyming, Segmentation, Blending, Isolation,
Have you ever tried to bring in all of your groceries at once, just to save another trip to the car? This requires significant motor planning. Motor planning, also known as praxis, is the ability to perform a new or skilled motor task, and is dependent upon adequate body awareness,
One of the basic jobs of a parent from the time their child is born is to make sure they are getting enough to eat. As a newborn this is based on amount of breast milk or formula they drink and we have a little more control of how much
Did you know exercise for your health is not only limited to your arms, core, and legs? Some activities can target your facial muscles and tongue, too. Just like workouts in the gym improve muscle strength and posture, Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy provides a workout for tongue and facial muscle strength
At the beginning of the 2020 Pandemic, everyone of course experienced fear of the unknown while we learned how our new day to day would be conducted. For us at Pediaspeech and other Speech and Occupational therapists, this looked like a scramble to figure out how to keep providing our
As a Speech-Language Pathologist, I often see clients come into my office concerned about their child’s reading abilities. But what many people don’t know is that there are vital pre-reading skills (also called phonological awareness skills) that can be taught to set children up for future reading success! What is
It’s hard to believe that almost three years ago we were ‘forced’ to switch to teletherapy for occupational therapy services. Today, we are still providing teletherapy; but this method of treatment is anything but forced. There are several unique benefits of doing occupational therapy through telehealth. Convenience This may be
PROMPT stands for Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets. PROMPT can be used to treat speech delays and disorders, specifically helpful in treatment of Childhood Apraxia of Speech. The PROMPT technique uses a tactile approach that cues a client’s articulators (tongue, jaw, lips) on the proper placement to produce
When evaluating new clients, I often hear kids described as “picky eaters” or mealtimes that sound like a battle zone. Feeding difficulties can be a challenging and frustrating experience for both children and parents. Children with feeding difficulties may have trouble swallowing, chewing, using utensils, managing appropriate amounts of food
Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is a developmental disorder that is typically diagnosed by 2 years of age. Children with apraxia present with inconsistent speech sound errors on consonants and vowels and in repeated productions of syllables and words. Usually, these children also have difficulty imitating their parents when asked
