Oral Motor Therapy: deals with the movement of the jaw, tongue, lips, teeth and cheeks. It addresses the placement of the above structures within the mouth. Oral motor exercises improve mobility, awareness of placement, coordination, strength of the oral muscles and structures.
Skills oral motor exercises support:
• Imitation – help foster learning during the back and forth practice
• Joint attention – make this fun, engaging, and social!
• Expanding awareness of mouth – including lips and tongue positioning
• Grow oral awareness – build skills to support sensory integration
• Helping practice functional speech sounds/words
• Coordination of oral motor movements – things like tongue placement and strengthening chewing (for kids who struggle with motor planning)