Is your baby having difficulties breast-feeding (i.e. having latch difficulties, making clicking sounds when nursing, experiencing gassiness, nursing constantly for weeks or showing signs of reflux)?

Is the baby's breast-feeding mother experiencing nipple pain, a low milk supply or mastitis?

Does your infant or child use a soother intensively? 

Is your child a thumb-sucker? 

Is your child snoring? 

Is your child a mouth breather (during the day or at night)? 

Do you see your child's tongue always lying flat on the bottom of their mouth?

Has your child been diagnosed with a tongue-thrust (i.e. their tongue comes out of their mouth as they swallow)?

Is your child hard to understand? 

Has your child struggled for YEARS with speech sounds without much progress?

If your answer to any of these questions is "Yes", then you have come to the right place!  Contact me below. 

You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.

Martin Luther King Jr

Many Speech-Language Pathologists are working on your child's speech clarity or articulation delays with very little knowledge or training in how your child's structural and functional differences are impacting them. 

 

This is where I come in.  I will work with your baby or child to determine if there are any structural (e.g. tongue tie, lip tie, enlarged tonsils and/or adenoids) or functional (e.g. weak muscle tone, incorrect muscle patterns) issues that are getting in the way of their progress. 

 

Your child may be diagnosed with an Orofacial Myofunctional Disorder (OMD) and may need to see other professionals (e.g. an Ear-Nose-Throat Doctor, an Allergy Doctor, a Pediatric Dentist specializing in tongue or lip ties, an Orthodontist or a Craniosacral Therapist). 

 

I will then work with your child to fix these areas of concern and you will see big changes in their ability to speak clearly and breathe properly.  If not corrected, OMDs can cause massive changes to a person's teeth, face, jaws, body posture and overall health.

More information about Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders (OMDs)

On May 2014, the Speech and Hearing BC association posted on its website about "Tongue Thrust/Oral Myofunctional Disorder".  It described how children's tongues develop from an immature swallow (also called a "tongue thrust" where the tongue touches the back of the teeth during a swallow) to a mature swallow (the tongue tip touches behind the upper or lower teeth during a swallow).  There can be many reasons why this immature swallow pattern continues, for example: tongue and/or lip ties, enlarged tonsils/adenoids and obstructed airways and nasal passages.  Thumb-sucking and pacifier use are also implicated in how these OMDs present and persist.  Articulation of speech sounds, dental structures including teeth and palate, chewing/eating behaviors and overall facial appearance are also impacted as children develop and grow using these incorrect muscle patterns.  

 

Let's get personal.  These are pictures of my upper lip tie and of my posterior tongue tie.  I also have enlarged tonsils and adenoids (not pictured). These structural issues have impacted how my teeth and jaws have developed over the years, leading to the picture of my current bite (Class II div 2 malocclusion with overjet).  Correcting these issues will now cost me thousands of dollars and potentially a couple of surgical interventions.  I wish my parents had known about this when I was little!

The picture below represents the roof of your mouth.  The tip of your tongue is supposed to touch the X in this picture when you swallow and when it's at rest and the back part of your tongue should be lightly suctioned to the roof of your mouth.  What does your tongue do?

A view of the upper palate and teeth with description of where to put your tongue.
Side profile picture of a woman's overjet teeth.
A posterior tongue tie on a tongue in a woman's face.
A upper lip tie on a woman's face.

There are numerous podcasts and books available to help you learn more about tethered oral tissues (TOTs) and orofacial myofunctional disorders.  Here are some of my favorites!

 

Here are some additional links that will help you to explore and discover more about this area.

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  1. https://speechandhearingbc.ca/public/disorders/disorder-listing/tongue-thrustoral-myofunctional-disorder/

  2. https://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/orofacial-myofunctional-disorders/

  3. https://www.asha.org/practice-portal/clinical-topics/orofacial-myofunctional-disorders/

  4. https://www.iaom.com/faq/

  5. https://aomtinfo.org/orofacial-myofunctional-disorders/

  6. https://www.colgate.com/en-us/oral-health/mouth-and-teeth-anatomy/myofunctional-therapy-its-all-in-the-tongue

  7. https://www.tonguetieexperts.net/tongue-tiecourse

CONTACT ME

I run my own private practice with a limited number of hours, in order to deliver quality services to my clients.  I provide assessments and therapy sessions at your home.  Please contact me if you have any questions.

Thanks for submitting!

PHONE
250-921-6873
MAILING ADDRESS
PO BOX 567
Rossland, BC
V0G 1Y0
E-MAIL
rosslandspeechtherapy@gmail.com