AUTISTIC CONJECTURE OF THE DAY:
Oral Motor Ideas
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 or 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 inmilk 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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