Get familiar with the key concepts we will cover in this course. We’ll highlight disorders from tongue thrusts to low tongue rest posture, mouth breathing, and benefits of nasal breathing, as well as the epigenetic factors that can cause these problems. 

Learn about the different stages of sleep and how disruptions to these stages lead to different challenges. We’ll go over sleep-disordered breathing and the different way it presents in children. Learn about airway and sleep disorders from these professionals: Dr Victor and Sydney Avis of Airway Revolution Foundation. And world renowned ENTs Dr Zaghi and Dr David McIntosh.

Get familiar with noxious oral habits like thumb sucking, prolonged pacifier use, and nail biting. Learn why these habits happen and how you can specifically target noxious habits to successfully eliminate them using a positive approach. Case studies are included in this module! 

In this module you’ll learn from Dr Anna Gross on optimizing infants’ and toddlers’ airways. This is not a course for babies, but education about early intervention is important. You’ll learn from Dr Kundel about the influence of jaw development on airway and sleep.

Meet the active chewing device that is amazingly powerful at improving oral tone in babies, toddlers, children, pre-teens, teens, and even adults. 

Learn about the lost art of chewing from Dr Mary Bourke. In addition, Dr Bourke teaches about reflexes and the Myo Munchee.

Discover how the tongue is supposed to move when speaking, while exploring how crucial stability is for improved articulation and speech. You’ll get specific skills for helping with the /r/ sound and sibilants. 

THE LISP & /R/ DISTORTIONS

Master the skills required to analyze frontal and lateral lisps so you can target the right cause, differentiating between jaw-based and tongue-based therapy. 

STRUCTURAL INFLUENCES ON ARTICULATION

Get familiar with the oral structure problems that influence articulation, how those problems present in children, and what is needed for intelligible speech.

DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS

Learn how to make a clear differential diagnosis between Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) and other speech sound disorders. You’ll also learn the key characteristics of each disorder and evidence-based therapy approaches that effectively target underlying deficits. Learn the exact steps to performing an assessment for CAS with Alonna Bondar.

This Module will teach you what is assessed in order to make an OMD diagnosis, including the key areas to examine and the one most important part of an evaluation. You’ll also learn about the structural, functional assessment, as well as chewing and swallowing assessment. 

We’ll get into the nitty-gritty details of what myofunctional therapy is, what the goals of this specific type of therapy are, and what the focus of myofunctional therapy should be. Walk through some of the key research to see why this type of therapy works and how it can impact your clients or patients. 

Learn what types of exercises to focus on, how to guide your patients, and how to structure the therapy exercises. There will be video demonstrations for many exercises as well as a handout for reference and instructions. You’ll also learn the importance of understanding that exercises are just strategy and what the real goal of Myo therapy is. 

Learn how to habituate skills for life. Key goals include nasal breathing, proper oral rest posture, and correct chewing and swallowing patterns. Deepen your learning with case studies following two children and an adult.