Episode 17: Out of Order: When is oral motor therapy appropriate?

When you hear the words “oral motor therapy” what comes to mind? Has this been a recommendation for your child? When is it appropriate? This week’s episode of the Tube to Table podcast will answer all these questions and more. Your hosts, Jennifer and Heidi, will break down what oral motor therapy really is, when it is appropriate, and when it doesn’t make sense. For some children, strengthening and range of motion exercises may be necessary and helpful, but for many others, this type of therapy happens at the wrong time and in the wrong context. Heidi and Jennifer discuss the foundations that need to be built and focused on within a responsive way, prior to working on oral motor skills. It is so important to take a step back and look at your child’s relationship with food, their motivation for the skills they are learning, and the context where they are learning those skills. This episode will also look briefly at the Thrive by Spectrum Pediatrics Tube Weaning program’s outcome data for how oral motor skills develop throughout our program. 

Check out this episode’s show note page (www.thrivewithspectrum.com/blogs) for links to the resources we mentioned and more information on what we discussed in today’s episode! Don’t forget to follow us on social media for more helpful information @Thrivewithspectrum on Instagram, @Thrivewithsp on Twitter, and @Thrivewithspectrum on Facebook!