3 Things SLPs Get Wrong about Myofunctional Therapy
We Were not taught this in Grad school
If you’re an SLP, chances are you were never properly educated about myofunctional therapy in grad school.
This gap in knowledge understandably leads to a number of misconceptions about what myofunctional therapy is and how it applies to the work you do as an SLP.
Not understanding myofunctional therapy isn’t your fault. You were never taught these things! But building a strong understanding of myofunctional therapy will help you improve your therapy sessions and help your clients make even better progress.
When you don’t have foundational myo knowledge, it can result in:
Missing underlying causes of speech issues
Overtreating surface symptoms instead of addressing the root cause
Frustration for you, your client, and your client’s parents when the client isn’t seeing meaningful progress
Missed opportunities for collaboration, referrals, or outside support
Today, we’re looking at the 3 things most SLPs misunderstand about myofunctional therapy and teaching you what grad school never did.
Misconceptions about myo therapy
You want to do everything you can to help your clients speak better.
Unfortunately, many SLPs spend months or years in stalled language-based or play-based therapy without seeing results. It’s not an issue with your skills!
You just need to be able to get to the root cause of your clients’ issues so you can solve the right problems. That often starts with a proper full orofacial myofunctional evaluation and myofunctional therapy… you just don’t realize it yet.
Let’s clarify the 3 most common misconceptions SLPs have about myofunctional therapy:.
Misconception #1: Myofunctional therapy is just tongue thrust therapy
This is an oversimplification.
Tongue thrust is only one possible symptom that can be helped with myofunctional therapy therapy.
Myofunctional therapy is more than swallowing problems, dental problems, or something only orthodontists handle.
Myofunctional therapy treats dysfunction in the mouth.
It targets:
Oral rest posture
Tongue positioning
Lip competence
Nasal breathing
Swallow pattern
Jaw stability
If you only look for tongue thrust when evaluating for myo issues, you may miss key things like low tongue rest posture, chronic mouth breathing, airway-related dysfunction, and other OMDs (orofacial myofunctional disorders).
Cueing sounds on top of an unstable foundation will never produce the results you and your client want to see.
Misconception #2: I can fix the sound, so my client doesn’t need myofunctional therapy
This is a common articulation trap many SLPs fall into.
Traditional articulation therapy targets phoneme production. Sometimes, with language-based therapy, you can elicit proper sounds.
But when there’s an underlying issue that articulation therapy doesn’t treat, your client will continue to struggle.
If you’ve been re-cueing the same error for years, seeing regression in your client after orthodontics, failing to generalize /s/, /z/, or /r/, or seeing speech collapse when your client is tired…
There’s a good chance there’s an underlying issue that needs to be addressed before working on speech sound therapy.
Speech production begins from rest. So if lips are open, the tongue is resting low in the mouth, the jaw lacks stability, or there is chronic mouth breathing, speech will never fully stabilize without working on the root cause of the posture or breathing challenges.
Starting with myofunctional therapy can often help articulation therapy progress more efficiently and effectively.
Misconception #3: Myofunctional therapy is the same as non-speech oral motor exercises
Myofunctional therapy is not the same as non-speech oral motor exercises (NSOME).
The goal of myofunctional therapy is to restore and normalize function, not simply to strengthen muscles in isolation.
This specific misconception holds back so many SLPs and makes it harder for you to effectively support your clients.
Myofunctional therapy is not :
Blowing bubbles
Random tongue movements
Isolated exercises
Myofunctional therapy is an exercise-based approach that targets the way muscles of the face, tongue, and airway work together for breathing, swallowing and oral rest posture.
NSOMEs don’t have a direct impact on speech.
Myofunctional therapy directly supports airway health, breathing, tongue placement, coordination, and speech.
What do SLPs need to know about myofunctional therapy?
Grad programs rarely cover many of the topics and focus areas addressed by myofunctional therapy.
This lack of knowledge leads to many SLPs misunderstanding what myofunctional therapy is and underestimating the importance of this type of therapy.
Because it isn’t emphasized in our education and training, it can feel optional. But myofunctional therapy is the key to identifying the underlying, root causes of issues so you can help your clients make real, sustained progress.
You don’t need to become a myofunctional therapist in order to screen your clients/students for OMDS.
Click here to learn how to screen your clients for OMDs.
Start by learning more about what myofunctional therapy is (like you’re doing right now!) and be intentional about:
Screening clients for oral rest posture
Observing swallow patterns with intention
Checking for mouth breathing
Asking clients (and their parents) about sleep quality
Speech is not an isolated event. It relies on a child’s airway, oral rest posture, muscle coordination, craniofacial growth and development, and habitual breathing patterns.
Myofunctional therapy looks at these foundations and helps SLPs identify the root cause of their clients’ issues so they can create a more effective, efficient treatment plan.
Learn more about myo therapy for SLPs
Stop chasing symptoms and getting stuck in ineffective therapy.
You can click here to download my free Therapists’ Guide to OMDs.
It will teach you more about what myo is and help you identify possible root causes of prolonged articulation errors with your current and future clients.
Key takeaways
SLPs aren’t taught about myofunctional therapy in grad school.
Misconceptions about myo are holding SLPs back from helping their clients make more meaningful progress.
There are 3 popular misconceptions SLPs have about myofunctional therapy: Myo is just tongue thrust, You can fix sounds without addressing the underlying cause of the speech sound disorder, and myo is an NOSME.
Myo is a holistic approach to speech, focusing on airway health, nasal breathing, and proper oral rest posture.
SLPs can improve their skills and confidently treat OMDs without becoming myofunctional therapists.
Speech is not an isolated event, and real improvement and progress often requires treating more than the obvious symptoms.
