Tongue Thurst Resource

I've been studying tongue thrust quite a bit and wanted to recommend a really helpful website: http://www.pammarshalla.com/blog/2013/03/is-a-frontal-lisp-outgrown/

I've listened to Pam Marshalla's seminars and tried her advice/therapy guidance. I love her style.

Tongue thrust can be pretty tricky for parents to try and correct by themselves. I recommend finding a professional http://www.asha.org/findpro/ who has experience with swallowing therapy. I'm afraid a lot of time and money will be spent focusing on the wrong thing (articulation only) unless a professional is given the opportunity to spend some sessions focusing on the swallow.

I've been volunteering in my 4 yr old daughter's preschool class and can see many of them (almost all) have some sort of frontal lisp. But, from a listening/watching obervation only, and from a few feet away, I wouldn't be able to tell if their lisp was more developmental in nature or if it was actually cause for concern. My daughter is one of the "lispers" and even though I am terribly biased, I really do believe hers is the "cute" kind that will truly go away on its own. She is already starting to say some /s/ words correctly and I've barely even made mention of her lisp.

My other daughter, is definitely a tongue thruster. We've been seeing a professional who has been so helpful. She (my daughter) can do a correct swallow when probed and can also do correct sounds with a model/reminder. Much progress has been made - yea!

Anyway, watch for signs of your/a child being unable to move tongue without moving jaw ("try to touch your nose with your tongue" or " lift your tongue"); also, where is the tongue at rest? Jaw should be up and forward with tongue on the top of mouth (behind front teeth). One interesting observation is that if a child tends to have poor posture, low coordination in large limbs, he or she is likely not being very coordinated with speech either. Your tongue is like another limb.

Good Luck!

Swallowing

Have you ever thought about how to actually swallow?

Try describing the process of swallowing to someone else.

Do you know of anyone with a "lisp" or "tongue thrust"? What about thumb suckers? If you aren't able to swallow pills without aid (meaning throwing your head back), you might be who I am talking about.

Try this:

1. Make a seal with your tongue and the top of your mouth (behind your front teeth, your tongue shouldn't even touch the back of your front teeth)
2. (not a requirement, but could help in describing) Now put your teeth together, smile big (the lips actually help elicit the swallow -- try doing this two different ways 1-with lips touching each other and  the other 2 - with an open-lip smile)
3. See if you can elicit a true swallow without moving the tip of your tongue

There are reflexesdo the work. The main process is actually involuntary (peristalsis).

So, what is the big deal with tongue thrusting and people with lisps? When they are little, they are given braces to help the teeth grow in place instead of jutting out (which is what an incorrect swallow pattern is doing to your teeth). What do you think of dentists/orthodontists recommending braces before considering an alternative treatment plan of correcting the swallow pattern? You wouldn't believe before/after pictures of somone who specializes in swallowing therapy: Orofacial Myologist. Of course there are many factors that precede the need for braces, I'm just throwing this out there as a possible way of saving thousands of dollars.

Since I have given birth to my own little tongue thruster, I could see at a very early age she was doing some seriously strange tongue action when speaking. During mealtime, she was my messiest eater with crumbs all around her chair. How thankful I am to have found a very good Orofacial Myologist who stopped my daughter from thumb sucking in mere weeks. The before/after pictures were HUGE motivators and the effects of ceasing thumb sucking (actual tooth movement) could be seen in a matter of months.

Just something to chew on for a little while ;-)

Check my friend Nancy out at: http://myofunctional.com/internal/approch.html