ARK's Blog

If you've spent time in an oral motor or feeding session, there's a good chance you already know the Z-Vibe. For more than twenty years it's been the vibrating oral motor tool therapists reach for and families keep coming back to. Today it grows! We'd like to introduce the Z-Vibe Plus. What the Z-Vibe does At its heart, the Z-Vibe uses gentle vibration to wake up the mouth. That input helps buil …

ARK turns 26 this month!  In celebration, here are 26 fun oral motor and feeding activities, all built around things you'd find at a birthday party - candles, frosting, sprinkles, party blowers, cake pops, crunchy snacks, silly faces, etc. Before you start - keep in mind that food-based activities depend entirely on the individual - allergies, textures they tolerate, and their current chewing …

You know that patient who can do everything in therapy, but doesn’t generalize the skill at home? They request, imitate, take bites, tolerate new experiences and show you new skills, but then leave your room, and it all *poof* disappears. Different spaces and different expectations equal completely different outcomes. It’s frustrating, and it’s easy to assume the skill is not the …

Oral motor therapy works on the physical skills of the mouth - the lips, tongue, jaw, and cheeks - that are needed for eating, drinking, and speech. That's really the core of it. Those four structures have to work together with a surprising amount of precision. Eating a cracker, drinking through a straw, saying the word "elephant", etc. all require specific movements, strength, and coordination fr …