The beauty of a child’s first words or their infectious giggles cannot be overstated. But have you ever wondered about the underlying mechanics that make these moments possible? Enter the world of oral motor skills—a critical aspect of childhood development that every parent should be familiar with. In this article we will explain oral motor skills, their development, importance, and possible challenges.

What Exactly Are Oral Motor Skills?

Oral motor skills refer to the movement and coordination of the muscles within the oral cavity, including those of the lips, tongue, jaw, palate, and cheeks. These movements form the backbone of tasks such as producing speech, managing food and drinks, swallowing, and expressing through facial expressions.

The Importance of Oral Motor Skills in Communication

Laying the Groundwork for Speech

The refined movement of oral muscles is central to clear and coherent speech. Proper lip, tongue, palate, and jaw coordination ensure that words are articulated precisely, allowing for effective communication.

Facilitating Non-verbal Expressions

A smile, a frown, a pout—each expression hinges on oral motor functions, helping convey emotions and intentions beyond words.

A Closer Look at Oral Motor Skills and Their Development

Key Oral Motor Functions

1. Lips: Sealing to sip from a straw, stretching wide for a smile, moving or shaping to form certain sounds, puckering for a whistle.
2. Tongue: Shifting to different parts of the mouth for varied speech sounds, aiding in food and liquid movement while eating.
3. Jaw: Stabilizing and moving during speech and moving up and down and diagonally for chewing.
4. Hard and Soft Palate: Separating the oral cavity from the nasal cavity and the moving back and up to shape certain speech sounds, aiding in oral management of nutrition and swallow.
5. Teeth: Teeth play a key role in feeding and articulating certain speech sounds.

The Natural Evolution

Beginning in infancy, activities like breast and bottle feeding, early vocalization, and spontaneous and imitated facial expressions lay the foundation for oral motor skills. As children grow, managing different food and beverage textures, making individual and sequences of sounds, producing and combining words, and singing further refine their oral motor skills.

Navigating Challenges in Oral Motor Development

A child facing issues in oral motor development might:

1. Struggle with clear speech sound production/articulation of words that include developmentally expected speech sounds.
2. Find it challenging to tolerate or efficiently drink or eat certain foods.
3. Experience excessive drooling beyond that associated with teething.
4. Have difficulty showing varied facial expressions.

Boosting Your Child’s Oral Motor Proficiency

Fun and Effective Activities

1. Straw Games: Drinking thick liquids through straws can strengthen oral muscles. Blowing through a straw can also be beneficial.
2. Facial Yoga: Encourage your child to make and imitate varied facial expressions—like wide smiles or exaggerated frowns.
3. Mirror Look: Look in the mirror with your child side-by-side and imitate their mouth movements and facial expressions. Through modeling, gently encourage them to imitate yours. Celebrate your child’s effort as well as their imitation.
4. Singing and Chanting: Songs with varied lyrics, pitch and pace can enhance oral coordination.
5. Tongue Twisters: If appropriate, challenge your child with fun tongue twisters that require fast and pronounced oral movements.
6. Blow Painting: Let your child dip a straw into water and blow onto paper, creating unique designs and strengthening oral muscles.
7. Playing Musical Wind Instruments: Instruments like harmonicas or recorders can support lip, tongue, and jaw movements.
8. Whistle Challenges: Learning to use whistles or whistle tunes can be an engaging way to strengthen and exercise more control over oral motor movements.

Seek Expert Insight

If you observe struggles in your child’s speech or feeding development, consider consulting a speech-language pathologist. Their expertise can provide support as well as targeted strategies and interventions.

FAQs

What are oral motor skills?

These skills involve the coordination of oral structures, critical for speech, feeding and swallowing, and facial expressions.

Why prioritize oral motor skills?

They should be prioritized because they are foundational for effective speech sound production, connected speech, and gaining nutrition.

How do children typically develop these skills?

While these skills can evolve naturally for children, some children may require speech-language therapy intervention to support their development.

When is it time to consult an expert?

If you observe struggles in speech, eating and drinking an age expected diet, a persistent open mouth posture at rest, excessive drooling, or other concerns related to your child’s oral motor skills, seek the guidance of a speech-language pathologist.

Additional Resources

1. Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing (asha.org)
2. Developing Oral Motor Skills in Children | WonderBaby.org
3. Resource Guide to Oral Motor Skill Difficulties in Children with Down Syndrome
4. Oral Motor Development and Speech – Active Learning Space

Summary/Conclusion

Understanding and nurturing oral motor skills is integral for a child’s speech, language, communication, and feeding development. Armed with knowledge and proactive strategies, parents can ensure their child’s communication and feeding journey is as smooth and stress free as possible. If you have a concern about your child’s oral motor skills for speech, feeding, breathing, or management of saliva, do not hesitate to seek professional advice.