5 Myofunctional Therapy Tips for SLPs
SLPs are encountering more and more clients with OMDs (orofacial myofunctional disorders) in their work with adolescent clients, but many trained professionals don’t have the knowledge they need to identify and treat OMDs.
If that describes you, keep reading! This post is for you.
When traditional articulation therapy stalls or fails to generalize, it’s usually not a problem with your skills or treatment plan. The problem is that you’re not identifying or treating the root cause of the issues.
That’s where myofunctional therapy comes in!
Tips for SLPs who want to identify and treat OMDs
You could benefit from a myo approach if you have clients who:
Remain stuck with articulation errors for years
Relapse after orthodontic treatment
Demonstrate chronic mouth breathing
Struggle with oral rest posture
Show persistent tongue thrust patterns
These are all signs that there are unidentified, untreated underlying causes that need to be addressed before therapy can be successful.
The following tips will teach you what grad school skipped, and give you a solid foundation of how myo can help your clients.
#1: Start with oral rest posture
Speech begins from rest. That’s why oral rest posture is critical to clear speech.
If the tongue, lips, and jaw are not properly positioned, the child will need to exert more effort in order to speak. This can lead to issues like lisps, persistent /s/ and /z/ distortions, difficulty stabilizing /r/, and orthodontic relapse. In addition, low tongue rest posture leads to hypotonic tongue and impact tonicity required for speech.
Observe your client and look for:
Lips that are gently closed and relaxed.
The tip of the tongue touching just behind the front teeth and the body of the tongue suctioned to the roof of the mouth.
A relaxed jaw with teeth slightly apart.
It’s best to observe clients when they are truly at rest and not thinking about their mouth or breathing, so look for their natural oral rest posture when you come into the room, during a quiet activity, or during conversation.
#2: Screen for mouth breathing
So many children are chronic mouth breathers. The prevalence of this can make it seem like mouth breathing isn’t a big deal… but it is.
Nasal breathing is one of the core signs of overall health.
Breathing through the nose filters and humidifies the air that enters the body, better regulates oxygen and carbon dioxide, supports proper tongue posture, and encourages optimal facial development.
Mouth breathing is one of the most common signs of an airway disorder or developmental issue.
You can ask your clients’ parents about the child’s sleep –– do they snore? Wet the bed? Wake up feeling tired after a full night’s rest?
You can also look for these signs of mouth breathing:
Open mouth posture
Dry lips or mouth
Chronic congestion
Dark circles under the eyes
Difficulty keeping lips closed
Chronic mouth breathing needs to be treated by a specialist. If you notice these signs in a client, you may want to refer your client to an ENT, allergist, or orthodontist.
#3: Look beyond sound errors
If you have a client who has been in articulation therapy for months or years without making meaningful progress, it’s time to look for the root cause.
Other signs it’s time to look deeper?
Clients can only produce proper sounds in therapy, but don’t have carryover.
Clients lose accuracy when engaged in natural conversation.
They may progress, only to regress as therapy continues.
These are all red flags that there may be a structural or postural pattern affecting speech.
Cueing sounds and continuing in articulating therapy won’t make a difference if there is a root cause that’s ignored.
#4: Observe swallowing
Swallowing is a complex motor pattern that occurs thousands of times per day.
And when swallow patterns are dysfunctional, they can contribute to dental and speech issues.
One common example is tongue thrust, where the tongue pushes against or between the teeth during swallowing.
If you suspect swallowing may be an issue, observe your client and look for:
Tongue pushing forward
Lip tightening or recruitment
Chin dimpling
Excessive facial tension
Head movement while swallowing
Dysfunctional swallowing patterns can affect teeth and reinforce tongue placement and oral rest postures that affect speech.
#5: Collaborate with other professionals
Speech isn’t an isolated event, and SLPs shouldn’t feel isolated in their practice.
While many myo therapy techniques and tools fall within the scope of work for an SLP, there are many issues that require outside support.
When you work with children, the best support includes:
Capable and motivated patient
Supportive parents
Pediatrician
General Dentist
ENT
Allergist
School-based SLP
Orthodontist
Osteopath/Craniosacral Therapist
Physical Therapist
Occupational Therapist
Teacher
Give your clients the support they need by creating a network of specialists that prioritize a holistic approach to speech, breathing, and overall health.
Start small and continue learning
You don’t have to become a full-blown myo specialist to improve your skills and help your clients make more progress.
Awareness is the first step. You’re already doing more when you learn what myo is and understand the importance of identifying the root cause of speech, breathing, and other airway issues.
The goal is to think beyond isolated speech sounds and provide a holistic, comprehensive approach to your clients’ needs.
Even small adjustments to your evaluation and observation habits can reveal patterns that dramatically influence therapy progress.
Take the tips you’ve learned here and begin applying them in your work.
And when you’re ready to learn more about myo and build more confidence in screening for OMDs, click here to join the training.
Key takeaways
Oral rest posture matters. Proper tongue, lip, and jaw positioning at rest supports stable speech production, efficient swallowing, and healthy airway development.
Screen for mouth breathing. Chronic mouth breathing can influence tongue posture, craniofacial growth, sleep quality, and speech outcomes.
Look beyond articulation errors. Persistent speech sound errors may be linked to underlying structural or postural patterns rather than the sound itself.
Observe swallow patterns. Tongue thrust and other dysfunctional swallow patterns can affect orthodontic stability, speech production, and oral development.
Collaboration is essential. Successful treatment of orofacial myofunctional disorders often involves working with orthodontists, ENTs, dentists, and other medical professionals.
Small observations make a big difference. Adding rest posture, breathing, and swallow checks to your evaluation process can help identify underlying causes of stalled speech progress
