ARK's Blog

I always love adding new tools to my oral motor toolbox, and the Bite Blocks are no exception.  These handy oral motor tools come in two different versions, both of which can be used to work on jaw grading and stability:   1.   Bite Blocks - a standalone non-vibratory set, as pictured below.  This version is nice when you don't need vibration.  Because each …

What is oral motor therapy? Oral motor therapy works on the oral skills necessary for proper speech and feeding development.  For example, try saying "la la la" right now, paying attention to what your tongue is doing.  In order to produce the /l/ sound, the tongue tip must elevate to the alveolar ridge (just behind the upper front teeth).  It must also be able to function independe …

Jaw grading is the ability to visually judge how far you need to open your mouth to take a bite out of certain foods and to say certain speech sounds. For example, say "ooooo" versus "aaahh" - can you feel the height difference in your jaw? It needs to open just a little bit for "eeee," but wider for "oooh." Or, imagine taking a bite out of a thin cracker versus a burger - there's a big difference …