ARK's Blog

Question:  Hello!  I have a 19-month old son that is currently doing occupational therapy through our state’s early childhood intervention program.  We have been trying to teach him how to drink out of a straw, but to no avail.  I have tried steps 1-4 on your How to Teach Straw Drinking article with the ARK Bear Bottle, (ultra), but we get stuck on him biting the straw, …

Question:  I am an SLP seeing a 8 year old student with a tongue thrust.  What products would be the best for addressing the tongue thrust?  How long does it usually take for them to affect a change in a child's lingual placement? . Great question.  For tongue thrust therapy, I use the protocol outlined in the book Swallow Right, 2nd edition by Roberta Pierc …

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:  Hi!  I have a 2 year old patient (12-14 month old skill level) who has significant tongue protrusion when attempting to drink out of a cup - this is not noted during any other feeding activities.  I think it's because she was exclusively bottle-fed for up to 20 months. I bought some lip blocks and the bear bottle for her to use.  She does great with the blue lip …