Oral motor exercises are important for increasing muscle tone / muscle strength so speech is possible. Even for children that already talk – these are great ideas for improving speech clarity.
These exercises are intended to give your child a variety of oral motor experiences in an enjoyable way.
1) BLOWING
- dandelions that have gone to seed
- cotton, dry cornmeal or feathers across the table
- kleenex in the air
- bubbles from bubble wand, or in the bath, from palm of hand
- whistles
- straws: blows in milk to make froth and bubbles
- on a winter day, blow on a frosty pane
2) CHEWING AND JAW STRENGTH
- licorice: can pull on it as child clenches (playful pull)
- jerky: make teeth marks on jerky
- fruit roll-ups or fruit chews
- show how to put directly on top of molars
- taffy
3) LICKING
- popsicles
- suckers
- ice cream cones
- lick out bowl (never mind etiquette)
- lick off something sticky from top lip, bottom lip or corners of mouth
- pretend to be like a kitty, licking paws
4) TONGUE SOUNDS
- imitate rhythm
- clicking
- la la la to music
- blow "raspberry" with tongue
5) TONGUE MOVEMENT
- move food from one cheek to other, using tongue; you show child in an exaggerated way how to do this
- move tongue to touch corners of mouth
- clear food from cheek with tongue like chipmunk
- balance Cherrio like cereal (Gorilla munch is GF CF!) or small food on tongue; then bring balanced food in and out of mouth
6) LIPS
- hold Cherrio like cereal (Gorilla munch is GF CF!) in lips like whistle "puckering lips"
- tight seal to say "mmmmmm"
- tight seal around straw
- tight seal to hold paper between lips; play tug of war
- humming
- kazoo or whistle with lips formed around
7) SUCKING
- straws with thick milkshake or nectar to strengthen suck
- practice sound as you pretend to feed a doll (tongue on top of mouth w/ pressure)
Compiled by the staff of Columbia Rose Pediatric Feeding Center
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| Before | During | After |
I had Christian when I was 19 years old. For the first year of his life I couldn’t imagine anything being wrong with my baby. He smiled; he laughed; he rolled, crawled and walked on time. At age one he had a massive overload for his little immune system. He had two ear infections, a high fever, back to back treatment of major antibiotics and he was given his MMR, varicella and HIB vaccines while he was still very sick. Christian faded away for the next 6 months.
At age two he was diagnosed with full syndrome Autism. I met an amazing mother who introduced me to the group Talk About Curing Autism. Before I found out about TACA, I had no clue that there was hope for my child. From that day on I knew that it was my job to get my son back and undue what had been done to him.
It has been three years since Christian was diagnosed with Autism. I had taken what I had learned from TACA, found wonderful therapists, began a diet, found a DAN! Doctor, and took control of my child’s health. I heard his first word when he was 38 months old, and let me tell you, it was worth the wait.
Today Christian attends a typical private preschool. He is the only child in the class with a diagnosis…and none of the other parents know that. He speaks clearly, has friends, reads, pretends on the playground and even knows what he wants to be when he grows up (which of course changes weekly).
I can honestly say, if I had not found that mom (you know who you are), and not been introduced to TACA, I don’t know where Christian would be today and I don’t know if I would ever have been able to help other parents starting this journey. Thank you TACA, thank you my hero mom, and thank you Christian for fighting this with me. I love you.
Chelsi, Washington State
