Oral Motor Skills and Oral Sensory Processing are always confusing when they both present in a child's feeding behaviour. Do you know the root of the problems around your child's feeding difficulties?
Oral Motor Skills and Oral Sensory Processing
Oral motor skills refer to the movement of the muscles of the face (jaw, tongue, cheeks and lips). This includes muscle tone, strength, range of movement, control and coordination, and endurance of the oro-facial muscles. The oral motor aspect of eating and speech production involves how the mouth muscles function to manipulate food in the mouth and how well the articulators coordinate to produce a sound accurately.
Oral sensory processing refers to the perception of tactile input in our mouths. The oral-sensory aspect of eating involves how the mouth tissues perceive sensory information e.g. taste, temperature, and textures of food.
An individual can have difficulties with either or both areas. It is extremely important to find out the roots of difficulties that impact the functions before planning an intervention because the inaccurate therapy might further contribute to the aversion to food in children. Typically, Speech Pathologists are trained for oral motor skills development and an Occupational Therapist for sensory processing, however, there are some professionals who are trained to do both.
How do Oral Motor Skills Develop?
From infant to the second birthday, children develop gross motor, fine motor, sensory and oral motor skills by engaging in different movements, tasks, sensory play and feeding.
Oral motor skills are highly related to the overall physical motor development including postural control and stability, core strength, trunk and head control. Trunk and head control and stability are the crucial foundations for oral muscle development.
Babies and infants usually mouth objects to explore textures. It is observed as an oral sensory seeking behaviour, which is typical and normal behaviour during infancy for a range of reasons including self-regulation, exploring different textures, seeking for oral sensory stimulation etc. Most infants will stop putting things in their mouths by the age of three when they have mostly developed the concept of food is for mouths and that other objects may not be safe for mouthing/eating.
Examples of Oral Motor Skills Involved in Feeding
Spoon Feeding | Lip closure, Tongue retraction, Jaw grading |
Cup Drinking | Lip closure, Tongue retraction, Tongue tip elevation or depression, Jaw grading |
Straw Drinking | Lip rounding and protrusion, Tongue retraction, Defining facial musculature, Jaw stability |
Chewing | Lip closure, Rotary movement of jaw, Jaw grading and stability, Tongue lateralisation and retraction. |
What are the red flags of oral motor or oral sensory development?
By 3 years of age, oral motor skills should be well developed and able to manage food that are bigger pieces and harder textures. Children will continue to develop on the strength, increasing speed, precise movement, and coordination of oral muscles to support their speech sound development.
We encourage you to see a Speech Pathologist if you see the red flags in feeding or speech production below:
· Difficulty biting or chewing food
· Prolonged period of time to chew and /or swallow food
· Coughing/ gagging/choking during or after eating on a regular basis
· Vocal quality changed during or after eating
· Significant difficulty transitioning between different food textures
· Not feeding him/herself finger food by 14 months of age
· Not attempting to use a spoon by 15 months of age
· Not picking up and drinking from a regular open cup by 15 months of age
5 Oral Motor Exercises
Here are some play ideas and activities to help support you/ your child to improve their oral motor skills. You should consult your Speech Pathologist to determine if these exercises are suitable for your child’s level.
1. Bubble Blowing
An easy and simple way to engage children in oral motor activities. Who doesn’t love bubbles! Demonstrate blowing for children and ask them to take turns in blowing and popping. Pop! Pop! Pop!
2. Bubbles Volcano
Prepare a bowl of bubble mixture and ask your child to blow into the mixture using a straw. You can use curly straws to increase the level of challenge. Be careful! The bubbles are coming up to your face. *Only recommend for children who understand the concepts of blowing and sucking.
3. Target “WASTED”
All you need is a few blocks, small figures, and a party blower! Your child can pretend a frog or lizard with a long tongue and blower the blower to knock down the figures.
4. Pompoms Transferring
Mark two lines on the floor as the start and finish points. Suck a pompom using a straw one at a time and transport it to the finish point! Try to not drop any pompom on the way to develop a stronger sucking skill!
5. Use of Chewy Tubes
Chewy tubes are an oral motor toy to give a safe and chewable surface for practising biting and chewing skills. There is a hierarchy of sizes and textures. Consult a Speech Pathologist about which one is the best suitable for your child to begin with.
Engage a Speech Pathologist to practice oral motor skills more confidently! Chat to us if you have any questions or ideas.
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