ARK's Blog

Whenever a parent asks me what they can do to improve their child’s oral motor skills, one of my first questions is usually:  Are they drinking from straws yet? Drinking from a straw is a very simple yet effective way of improving one’s oral motor skills.  It works on lip seal, tongue retraction, cheek strength, correct jaw position, suck-swallow-breathe coordination, consecutive sw …

Question:  I’m seeking help for our son. The short story is that my son was born at 25 weeks and was in the nicu for 3.5 months and has overcome many things.  When he left the nicu he was always a tough feeder (fussy) but always ate plenty by bottle. Then during a re admission, his feeding slowly declined and after a few weeks he was no longer willing to try anything.  The n …

Question:  My four year old daughter pockets food in her lower gums.  Foods like pizza, chicken, egg whites, etc. (that do not melt like crackers or cookies).  She will simply let it stay in her gum pockets until she looks like a chipmunk and eventually we will have to remove it with our fingers.  She is not able to automatically understand the natural process …

Did you know that there is a right and wrong way to spoon feed?  The wrong spoon feeding procedure involves lifting your hand upward as you remove the spoon from the child’s mouth.  This method scrapes the spoon against the teeth, gums, and/or upper lip to get food off of the spoon. . . Scraping is not the normal, natural way to feed.  And specifically for children with o …