Specialties
From clinical experience, courses, conferences, and leading programs
Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders
(OMDs)
OMDs are disorders of the muscles and function of the face and mouth. When these muscles aren’t working correctly, it can affect articulation, sleep, breathing, swallowing, and more. Myofunctional therapy is an exercise-based therapy that trains the muscles of the face and mouth to functional optimally. Often times, myofunctional therapy in conjunction with traditional articulation therapy can elicit the quickest improvements in speech clarity.
Fluency
A fluency disorder is an interruption in the flow of speaking characterized by atypical rate, rhythm, and disfluencies (e.g., repetitions of sounds, syllables, words, and phrases; sound prolongations; and blocks), which may also be accompanied by excessive tension, speaking avoidance, struggle behaviors, and secondary mannerisms (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association [ASHA], 1993). Additionally, people who stutter often experience negative emotions related to speaking, such as shame, guilt, embarrassment, and frustration.
Motor Speech Disorders: Apraxia of Speech
People with apraxia of speech might not be able to move their lips or tongue in the right ways, even though their muscles are not weak. When a child has apraxia of speech, the messages do not get through correctly from the brain to the mouth.
