1 Reason Your Child Needs Speech that You'll NEVER Hear About

If you've ever wondered why your child has a speech delay or they just don't say words the way they are supposed to sound, you've probably asked your doctor. But possibly one of the more common reasons a child has difficulty with communication, even though it can also affect sleep and other basic needs, is often looked over even by a great pediatrician. My Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders go to gal, Georgia Martin, SLP describes risk factors, common symptoms and signs of OMDs in an hour-long presentation you can find in the Free Resource Library! This is the first of a few (she has kindly volunteered to discuss what she believes is the overdiagnosis of childhood apraxia of speech when we ignore OMDs) so sign up for the Free Resource Library and take a gander!

Some signs of orofacial myofunctional disorder:

• delayed speech and/or language
• snoring, night waking, nightmares, night terrors, bedwetting, under eye circles, sleep apnea
• attentional concerns
• need for a pacifier, thumb or finger sucking
• nail biting
• Being in speech therapy a LONG time and still not correcting a lisp or mastering sounds
• open mouth breathing
• history of allergies, infections, difficulty nursing
• need for orthodontia, overcrowding of teeth, etc.

When your child was small, did they have a tongue tie? Did someone (even a speech therapist) tell you they don't actually "do anything?"  In all honesty, that used to be me. I used to hear parents talk about tongue ties and internally face palm! I had been told by my professors that tongue ties and anything oral motor functioning related were an old wives' tale, or they only mattered if they were extreme... and I went to a good program. We were stuck in our old ways of understanding things, which Georgia explains so graciously in her interview, but it is within our official scope of practice from the American Speech and Hearing Association now to participate in the diagnosis and conduct treatment. It's amazing what can change in 10 years!  The hard parts now are getting professionals and public educated and expert so we can get children and adults the help they need. If you feel like something hasn't been "clicking" with your child's speech therapy or you saw even 1-2 of those signs and symptoms and though "I wonder," it might be wise to ask!