ARK's Blog

Question: I work with a child who has Down Syndrome. She is 16 months old. She presents with open mouth posture and tongue thrusting not during feeding. Mom purchased a Z-vibe and I saw your article on using the Z-vibe to promote lip closure. Only problem is....anytime we go near her mouth she thinks the item is food and tries to open her mouth and touch her tongue with it. She does not yet u …

Below are directions for a Straw / Lip Blok program I've used with many of my kids over the years. I usually do this in conjunction with tongue thrust therapy when their swallowing pattern needs to be changed.  And it also helps work on oral tone and tongue retraction. . . What You'll Need: 1. Krazy Straws. I typically use the ones in the picture below, in sequence f …

All of our chews are used by both boys and girls, kids and adults.  They come in a  variety of shapes and colors for lots of different interests.  But for anyone looking for "girly girl" designs, check out: ARK's Diamond Chew Necklace - As they say - diamonds are a girl's best friend! . . ARK's Krypto-Bite Chewable Gem Necklace - a beautiful six-sided gem / jewel shaped c …

Question:  Do all children with speech problems have to attend regular speech therapy? Not necessarily.  Sometimes you can place mild cases on consultation to monitor their development and progress.  For example, I recently saw a child with an L distortion in a private school. She was four years old, and I knew the parents would be very conscientious about  home follow …