Myofunctional Therapy (OMT)

At SATC, we combine Oral Placement Therapy (OPT) with Myofunctional Therapy (OMT) to address a variety of issues related to feeding, swallowing, and speech clarity. One of the key areas we focus on is tongue thrust, a condition that is often confused with a lisp.

A lisp is a speech disorder where a person has difficulty producing the sounds /s/ and /z/. There are four different types of lisps—interdental, dental, palatal, and lateral.

Tongue thrust, on the other hand, is a condition where the tongue moves forward during activities like eating, swallowing, or speaking. This can affect the production of sounds such as /s/, /z/, /sh/, /zh/, /ch/, and /j/.

Oral Placement Therapy (OPT) was developed by Sara Rosenfeld-Johnson of TalkTools (rights reserved) and has proven to be an effective tool in improving or even eliminating tongue thrust. In many cases, with consistent therapy over a 6–8 month period, we’ve seen significant progress. Some children have even been able to avoid the need for braces or dental surgery.

At SATC, our therapists use OPT to help children understand the concepts of air flow, oral imitation, and phoneme placement. We've successfully integrated OPT with OMT to help children with severe childhood apraxia of speech.

By using tools like whistles and Apraxia blocks, we support these children in developing clearer, more precise speech.