speech therapist/DC in speech therapy, help needed....

[SammyeGail]

One of my twins is what I would consider severly speech delayed. They will be 4 soon. He has a severe problem with most of his consonants. He has even lost being able to make the 'S' sound :(.

The school system has him in speech once a week for an hour. She is great with him and he likes her alot. Problem is scheduling conflicts, they made the time slot without consulting us, things come up and she has to cancel, etc.

I've gone several time and I work with DS, we do some websites/games on the computer (he loves that!). I ask him to watch my mouth, I make the sound on the palm of his hand, etc.

I've been watching him and its like he doesn't use his tounge much. The Speech Therapist doesn't use anything to 'stimulate' his mouth or tounge, but I know there are things out there.

My other twin has autism, I had read on a posting board about a year or so ago that a Z-Vibe was good for mouth stimulation, some moms got one for DC that were heavy chewers, DS with autism is! I called the company to ask about this and the lady freaked out about it, LOL! She freaked out that I wasn't a therapist!

I live in a rural area. I was wondering if someone could suggest some things and techniques that could help stimulate DS's mouth and tounge. He isn't getting the speech therapy he needs, even the therapist admits this. She is completely booked up, beyond it!

Thanks for any help/suggestions, now I am wondering if a Z-vibe would help my DS with speech delays......and proper use?

[set81616]

For our son we would stroke the outside and inside (he hated the inside) in a specific manner. YOur therapist should be able to tell you the order she wants you to use. I have since been taught it in school and I may be able to find some old slides if you want. Just PM me. We would put food on one side of his mouth so he would have to use his tounge to move it. Applesause, yougurt, etc on a plate and he would have to stick his tounge out to get it and we would move the plate around. Maroon spoon. It's a special spoon that all therapist know about and can order for you - you can probably google it and get it. DS hated the vibration (he has sensory issues) but it can help if your DS accepts it. HTH
Shannon

[sste]

Our speech therapist used a tart lollypop with DS - - he was much younger and I think her goal was not so much to stimulate but to create some sensation there and increase his own awareness of his tongue.

Does your health insurance cover speech therapy? Maybe a few sessions with a private therapist would give you additional ideas . . .

[Pepper]

Some things my son's speech/feeding therapist did with him when he was a baby. DS had a unilateral cleft lip & palate, so she was trying to get him to move his lips a lot. I am not a speech therapist, and from what I've read on other parenting boards the oral/motor approach is controversial for older kids (in terms of its effectiveness), so I don't know if these things would help as much with the tongue movement or with an older child, but it might be fun to try:

-dip a spoon in yogurt and then crushed graham crackers, and dab it on his lips (the rought texture of the crackers is stimulating)

-rub flavored lip balm on his lips and get him to smack them together

-blow a soap bubble, catch it on the bubble wand and then let the bubble break against his lips (this is used for kids with oral aversion, to help them tolerate touch on the mouth. The bubble popping is fun so they learn to associate lip stimulation with pleasure).

-have him hold a Cheerio between his lips gently, and then curl them inward so that he gets to eat the Cheerio.

There's a website called Talk Tools (www.talktools.net) that sells a lot of items for oral motor development. We used the series of whistles in the horn Heirarchy a lot, and my son still loves to play with them.

...aaaand, I forgot about this website: http://www.speechdelay.com/

HTH!