Children who have Down Syndrome experience a lot of oral motor difficulty. In particular, they struggle when it comes to speech and feeding. The reason for this stems from having weaker oral muscles, smaller lower jaw, and other anatomical differences. Fortunately, speech therapy can help address these issues.
Qualified speech-language pathologists assess your child’s level of communication and devise a customized plan that targets your child’s speech difficulties. They work with parents and even educators to implement a program to help develop the child’s communication skills.
Some of the areas that speech-language pathologists work on include pre-verbal skills. This means eye contact and other non-verbal gestures. They also work on the child’s vocabulary and language concepts. Exercises to strengthen oral muscles and improve oral muscle coordination are also done. Throughout the treatment plan, appropriate activities will be given to the child to help them improve even without the pathologist present. To achieve this, detailed guidance is given to parents so they can support their child in every step of the plan.
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