What Can I Do About My Child’s Articulation Errors If They Have a Tongue Tie?
If you are noticing your child’s speech sounds are distorted where it seems that their tongue is just not in the appropriate place to make the correct speech sounds, then your child may benefit from a Spot Pal appliance. Research has shown that children who are unable to elevate their tongue for sounds like t, d, n, l the sounds tend to be distorted or substituted for an entirely different sound. This is a result of improper tongue tip placement where the child is not able to elevate their tongue tip to the roof of their mouth right behind the front teeth also known as their “spot.”
A speech-language pathologist or myofunctional therapist can further evaluate your child and make the necessary referrals such as a possible frenectomy consultation for your child’s potential tongue tie. They will also come up with a treatment plan to assist both you and your child pre and post frenectomy, if a frenectomy is warranted. Part of that treatment plan could involve use of Spot Pal during tongue exercises and at rest to support proper tongue placement.
How can Spot Pal help my child with their articulation errors? Spot Pal can help your child improve their overall awareness of their tongue tip placement. Once the awareness is established then they will be able to work on eliminating possible tongue thrusting. Tongue thrusting is when the tongue presses too far forward in the oral cavity where the tongue tip is sometimes visible poking out in between the teeth during speech production and swallowing. Other possible reasons why your child might be displaying errors in their speech production could be a result of their tongue resting low within their oral cavity. Spot Pal can assist your child by teaching them how to elevate their tongue tip so they can carry over the proper placement into their speech production to reduce the overall errors you once heard from them.
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