Mouth muscle training game

What is oral muscle training?

Oral muscle training, also known as oral muscle movement therapy, is an important part of speech training. Through training, the ability to process oral sensations can be increased, and the separation and coordination of the mandible, lips, and tongue can be promoted, thereby promoting correct pronunciation.

When is oral muscle training necessary?

Oral muscle training is mainly aimed at people who have difficulty eating and speaking compared to their normally developed and age-matched peers, such as those who have weak oral muscles, a small range of motion, slow movement speed, poor continuous movement ability, poor coordination, etc., and who are unable to eat normally or use auditory or visual cues to correctly say the target sound.

In children, oral muscle motor impairment or tactile abnormalities are common in: autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, language delay, dysarthria, fluency disorder (commonly known as stuttering), swallowing disorders, oral muscle disorders, and pronunciation disorders caused by hearing impairment.

How to train oral muscles?

Oral muscle training generally includes tactile training, muscle strength training and motor control training of the jaw, lips, and tongue, and eating ability training.

The materials used include food and drinks, as well as special training tools.

Training methods include oral and facial massage, mandibular stabilization training, tongue tip extension and lifting training, lip rounding and lip spreading training, etc.

The training method is one-to-one, with the therapist and child doing exercises together in a fun, progressive and acceptable way.

Family cooperation is also very important. In addition to the guidance and training of the therapist, the caregiver also needs to help the child with training. Only by ensuring daily practice time can the child's oral muscle movement and sensory problems be improved as soon as possible, and correct pronunciation can be promoted.

Of course, simple oral muscle training is boring and children often reject it. Today, I will introduce some small games to train lip rounding ability, so that children will like training and make rapid progress!

Blow a balloon into a cup: Let your baby blow a balloon into a cup.

Bullet firing: Put the ball in a round tube and blow it out.

Blow down paper cups: Stack disposable paper cups and let your child blow them down to exercise lung capacity and increase the loudness of the voice.

Blowing a small boat: float the bottle cap on the water and blow it into it with a straw to improve your breath control and make your words clear and powerful.

The child should actively cooperate throughout the process, and the parents should assist in completing the process. If any emotional problems arise, the process should be stopped immediately.

It should be noted that oral muscle training is part of speech training and should be carried out together with other speech therapy programs. Family training should be coordinated with professional treatment from medical institutions to better promote the development of the baby's speech and language abilities.