314 chapter 35
Rhythm is important to language
development. Sing songs, play
music, and have the child imitate
body movements: clap your hands,
touch your toes, or beat a drum.
Imitate the sounds that baby makes and have him copy the
same sounds when you make them. Then say words similar to
those sounds.
Also, imitate use of the mouth: open wide, close tight, stick
out tongue, blow air, push lips in and out.
CAUTION:
Encourage use of
gestures, but not
so much that the
child does not
feel the need to
try to use words.
SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN SPEECH DEVELOPMENT
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A mouth that hangs open or drools is a passive
(inactive) mouth. It makes development of language
more difficult. Often children with Down syndrome or
the floppy type of cerebral palsy have this problem.
Here are some suggestions to help correct the
problem of drooling and to help strengthen the mouth,
lips, and tongue for eating and speaking ability.
CAUTION: If the
child’s mouth
hangs open and
she drools, do
not keep telling
her to close it!
This will not
help and will
only frustrate the
child.
Stroke or tap
the upper lip,
or gently press
the lower lip
several times.
Or, gently stretch
the lip muscles.
This may help
the child to close
his mouth.
To strengthen the tongue
and lips, put honey or
a sweet, sticky food on
the upper and lower lips.
Have the child lick it off.
Also have the child lick sticky food
from a spoon and lick or suck ‘suckers’
and other foods or candies.
You can also put sticky food
on the inside of the front
teeth and roof of the mouth.
Licking this food helps prepare
the tongue for saying the
letters T, D, N,G, H,J,and L.
Put food into the side of the mouth and behind
the teeth so that the child exercises the tongue.
Also, have the child try to take food off a spoon
with his lips.
Begin to give the child solid foods, and foods
she needs to chew, as early as she can take them
(after 4 months). This helps develop the jaw and
mouth.
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CAUTIONS: 1. Do not do licking exercises in a child with cerebral palsy whose tongue pushes
forward without control. This can make the ‘tongue thrusting’ worse.
2. After giving the child sweet or sticky food, take extra care to clean teeth well.
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