Orofacial myofunctional therapy focuses on how the tongue, lips, cheeks, jaw, and facial muscles work together to support oral posture, speech, chewing, and swallowing.

At Tiny Talk Trio, we take a whole-child approach, considering your child's developmental history, habits, and functional needs to determine what support may be helpful.

Direct myofunctional therapy is typically most appropriate around age four and older, when children are ready to participate in structured activities and develop awareness of their oral patterns. Readiness varies by child.

Therapy may be helpful for concerns such as tongue thrust, low tongue resting posture, open-mouth posture, persistent oral habits, swallowing patterns, and certain speech sound distortions, including lisps.

For children under four, we focus on foundational oral skills through developmentally appropriate activities and parent guidance. Support may include feeding, chewing, oral-motor coordination, early speech development, and persistent oral habits.

Our individualized approach focuses on functional oral skills rather than appearance alone. Depending on your child's needs, support may include:

• Oral posture and movement: Supporting functional tongue and lip posture, coordination, and mobility.

• Chewing and swallowing: Developing effective oral skills and functional swallowing patterns.

• Speech sound placement: Supporting oral movement patterns that contribute to speech clarity.

• Oral habits: Helping families understand persistent habits, such as thumb sucking or prolonged pacifier use, and explore appropriate strategies.

• Oral restrictions: Supporting functional tongue and lip mobility and oral skills before and after release when appropriate, in collaboration with medical and dental providers.