First Visit with Speech Therapist

Today a new therapist came to visit Madelyn and to introduce herself and get to know Madelyn. She asked me why EI had not referred her until now and I told her our County's CDSA didn't refer to Speech Therapist until they are two. She isn't two yet but I pushed for this sooner plus had the boys evaluated after their 2nd birthday so she got in on it too. In other words, we should have been seeing this person since Madelyn has been in the EI program for her oral motor skills. She will be coming once a week working with the muscles around Madelyn's cheeks, inside her mouth and lips. The goals are to make her speech clearer, improve muscle tone in her face, and hopefully teach Madelyn to keep her tongue in her mouth and not drool all the time. She also recommended a dentist but we already have an appointment with a pediatric dentist in May.

Madelyn was using our normal Playtex sippy's and the therapist recommended I switch to the sippy's with straws. Madelyn forces her bottom jaw forward and her tongue out when she sucks on these sippy's. Using the ones with straws with force her to use the muscles inside her mouth which will in turn strengthen her facial muscles. I don't like the straw sippy's b/c they are harder to clean but I'll do this for her.

She also mentioned how Madelyn uses her mouth to breathe. She stays so snotty and congested she has to breathe this way. I told her about all the meds we have tried, removing adenoids and putting tubes in her ears, etc. She agreed with me that seeing an allergist was a great idea. Until we can get this problem solved with her nose, she's going to continue to use her mouth to breathe which delays improvements to her facial muscle tone. I'm definitely looking forward to what this allergist has to say about our girl.