Childhood Disabilities & Disorders

Oral Motor Disorders

Oral motor disorders refer to the failure to use the muscles of the mouth or to perform certain mouth movements for functional speech or feeding.

Children can be hyper-sensitive (tighter mouth muscles) or hypo-sensitive (weaker mouth-muscles).

Signs that a child has an oral motor disorder include: low muscle tone in the face, drooling, unclear speech sounds, teeth grinding, inability to chew or eat properly, difficulty keeping mouth closed, difficulty moving his/her tongue in different directions.

© 2010, Collage Pediatric Therapy Center Inc.