Hi Therapists, What do I do for a 19 year old student with a severe underbite (a gap of ½ inch between top and bottom teeth) when trying to use the jaw stability protocol? Thank you. When you are working on the Bite Blocks for jaw stability and the Bite Tube hierarchy, you will want to make sure […]
Ask A Therapist: Proper Tongue Elevation & Retraction
I need advice please! I am seeing a 5 year old child with severe childhood apraxia of speech together with dysarthria (specifically weakness of tongue and lips). So far his lip strength and movement has improved a lot, but I am really struggling with his tongue. He can protrude his tongue beautifully, retraction we are working […]
14 MONTHS: VIDEO UPDATES!
Watch the following videos to see Annabelle’s exceptional progress in her therapy! Working on Straw #2: Eating table food: Working on oral motor exercises: -Lanie Beetsma Annabelle has Down Syndrome and has been using TalkTools Therapy since she was born. Her story is a great inspiration for parents seeking help for a child with Down Syndrome. […]
THE BEST GIFT FROM ELIZABETH
As our journey continued, I was able to revisit the “to do” category of a preschool for Elizabeth. We initially had tried a preschool in our area that had half typical developing children and half special needs children attending. We had thought it would be a nice fit for Elizabeth as she would get OT […]
Ask A Therapist: TMJ Sensory Feedback for Calming
Hey Sara, Recently you had a parent open question meeting in Corpus Christi, TX. I was there with my 8 month old baby. You were talking to a woman who’s 5-ish son with Down syndrome was repeatedly hitting his chin. You mentioned he was satisfying a feeling that was in his jaw by that action. […]
Dashiell Wins the Award for Self-Advocacy
“When our son Dashiell was born in early 2004 with Down syndrome, we immediately began researching possible intervention and therapy options. We realized that in our talkative family, speech would be our priority. When we found an article by Sara Rosenfeld-Johnson, MS, CCC-SLP about her oral-motor therapy, the connections between feeding and speech really made sense to […]
Ask A Therapist: Vocalic /R/
Hi Ms. Rosenfeld-Johnson, I took your oral placement technique course in New York a few weeks ago. I have a few clients who have difficult with the /r/ and tried out the robot technique. A lot of those same kids also have trouble producing the glottal fry — do you have any pointers for me? […]
Ask A Therapist: Strong Gag Reflex
Tervehdys! I am speech pathologist from Finland, took your class about Feeding Therapy: a sensory-motor approach at Helsinki last May. I am sending you an e-mail, because I met a new client shortly after the class and this case really bothers me. I have asked permission from parents, to send this e-mail and pictures/short video when […]
ANNABELLE’S 1ST YEAR CONCLUSION
The past 12 months have taken us on a new and unexpected journey. We are so blessed to have the support of many as we reflect on Belle’s 1st year. At the top of our support list would be our inspiring Therapist, Whitney, as well as the knowledgeable staff at TalkTools. They have enabled us to […]
Ask A Therapist: A Therapeutic Alternative to Mouthing Habits
Hi Sara, It has been awhile since we have seen you in Richmond! James is doing well. His speech seems pretty normal to us at this point (maybe some subtle things remaining). I was emailing with a related question, and hoping that you can point us in the right direction. James has had some issues […]