Help Me Speak, LLC

Help Me Speak, LLC Oromyofunctional, Communication, & Learning Skills
Improving BESST skills for all clients
(Breathing, Eating, Swallowing, Sleep, & Talking)

Our SLPs are trained in the latest and most effective evaluation & therapy techniques, such as: *PROMPT*, *Orofacial Myology*, Talk Tools, *Complete Speech--SmartPalate*, Beckman stretches, Kaufman techniques, *Help Me Eat* (Food Chaining, SOS Approach to Feeding, AEIOU), Interactive Metronome, REI, Sign language, *iPad apps* for therapy, & more. We treat clients with a variety of genetic diagnoses, Tongue Tie, oral swallowing difficulty, Autism, Apraxia, Down syndrome, dyslexia, language learning difficulties, tongue thrust, articulation errors, hearing impairment, & others.

04/11/2026

🚨Parents: did you know that sticking out your tongue and moving it back and forth is NOT a FUNCTIONAL examination of a tongue tie? 🚨

Your child needs an SLP who specializes in oromyofunctional (myo) challenges. (like me!)
I believe a detailed evaluation of your child should include:
💚Photographs to examine the STRUCTURE of their posture, palate (roof of mouth), teeth, jaw, lips, tongue, UNDER the tongue
💙FUNCTIONAL examination of the stability, movements, control, coordination, & independent movements of the JAW, LIPS, & TONGUE
❤️A Speech evaluation in words and sentences
💛Assessment of a child’s chewing & swallowing of a variety of foods
This evaluation need to look at the WHOLE child & how a possible tongue tie affects them.

If you are curious or concerned about YOUR child’s tongue function,
Comment TONGUE TIE & we will DM a link for more information.

Also hit the follow button to learn more ways to help your child Breate, Eat, Swallow, Sleep, & Talk better. 💞

If your child is struggling with chewing, swallowing, or talking, it may not be effort but undeveloped mouth skills that...
04/10/2026

If your child is struggling with chewing, swallowing, or talking, it may not be effort but undeveloped mouth skills that need small, daily practice.

04/09/2026

Parents: Is your child’s speech clear? Can friends understand what they say? 🤔
If you answered NO, then just repeating the words isn’t going to help.😵‍💫
We have to treat the mouth muscles & improve their FUNCTION.
❤️Jaw
💛Lips
💚Tongue
All of these have to function appropriately, be stable, move independently & coordinate together
for CLEAR SPEECH.
These skills are vital!
That’s why I created a guide to help you, as a parent, to briefly examine
the BESST areas (Breathing, Eating, Swallowing, Sleeping, & Talking) in YOUR child.

Comment CHECKLIST and we will DM you the link. 💙

🚨Parents: Have you noticed your child resting with their mouth open throughout the day? 🚨Many people think this is just ...
04/08/2026

🚨Parents: Have you noticed your child resting with their mouth open throughout the day? 🚨

Many people think this is just a harmless habit,
but an open mouth position can affect more than most parents realize. 😳

When a child consistently keeps their mouth open at rest, 👄
it can change their mouth structure (narrow roof of mouth)
& create challenges with mouth function.
These changes can then affect how the lips, tongue,
and jaw work together for stability, control, coordination, & independent movements.
As a result, facial development, speech, chewing, swallowing, and sleeping are affected. 😧

Now that you, as a parent, understand the importance
of the jaw, lips & tongue,
we can help you support better mouth muscle skills
and resting mouth position at home. 🏠

Comment BESST if your child is mouth breathing & we will DM you the link.

04/07/2026

It’s a HUGE mistake to rush into a tongue tie release.
A tongue tie release (frenectomy) is NOT a magic fix.

Why?

1) Get oral swallowing & speech evaluations first by an SLP who specializes in orofacial myology.
Before you decide on a release, make sure your child has been assessed for:
🗣️ Speech
🍽️ Chewing
🥤 Swallowing
👅 Jaw, tongue, lip stability, control, coordination, and independent movements

2) Timing matters.
If your child is anxious, very sensitive, or won’t let anyone touch inside their mouth,
rushing can make things worse. It can lead to more sensitivity, and make these harder:
🩺 Treatment
📝 Post-release exercises
🍽️ Eating, chewing, & swallowing
🪥 Brushing and flossing

3) Your child may still use “work-around” (compensatory) habits.
Some kids learn to use other mouth muscles to help, like pushing the jaw forward, bunching the tongue, or tightening the lips.
After a release, those habits can still occur, and your child may struggle unless we retrain the muscles in the mouth first.

4) After-care exercises for proper tongue independent movements are a big deal.
A release without a follow-up plan can lead to:
💥 Too much tension when healing
🔒 The area healing inappropriately
❗ Little to no real change

So you might do the procedure, but the mouth muscles still don't work better.

5) Training the muscles in the mouth is what creates REAL change.
We need to teach the jaw, lips, and tongue how to:
⚖️ Be stable
🎯 Move with control
🤝 Work together
🔄 Move independently

This helps with breathing, eating, chewing, swallowing, talking, and an appropriate resting mouth position.


Comment BESST and we’ll DM you how to get started. 💬

Your child isn’t being difficult — they need better mouth skills.Clear speech, safe chewing, and confident swallowing al...
04/06/2026

Your child isn’t being difficult — they need better mouth skills.
Clear speech, safe chewing, and confident swallowing all improve
with small, daily practice.
Consistency at home makes a powerful difference.

Need simple ideas to get started?
Comment “ROUTINE” and we’ll DM you our Tips.

04/05/2026

🚨PARENTS! Did you know that tongue ties don’t ONLY affect babies?🚨
What do we notice in kids 4 years and older? 🤔

One or more of these difficulties:
🗣️ Unclear speech
🍽️ Messy eating
👄 Loud lip smacking when chewing
👄 Chewing with lips open
👅 Difficulty moving the tongue to manage food when chewing
🥞 Selective eating
😧 Mouth breathing

Which one/ones do YOU notice in YOUR child? 🤔

CTA: Comment TONGUE TIE and
we will DM you our checklist to help you learn more.

04/04/2026

If you’ve been told “your child can stick their tongue out, so it’s fine”… that’s NOT the whole story. 😳
Sticking the tongue out and moving it side to side is NOT a functional test for a tongue tie. 🤦🏼‍♀️

Tongue tip movements: elevation up to the spot on the roof of the mouth (palate) behind the upper front teeth & retraction (pulling back) with stability in the back sides of the tongue DIRECTLY affects clear speech.
A tongue tie can make these tongue movements CHALLENGING! 😟

INSTEAD what your child NEEDS is a FUNCTIONAL speech and swallowing evaluation by an SLP that specializes in the muscles in the face & mouth (myo).
I believe an evaluation should include:
💙Photos of mouth STRUCTURES
❤️FUNCTIONAL examination of the stability, movements, control, coordination, & independent movements of the JAW, LIPS, & TONGUE
💛A Speech evaluation
💚Assessment of a child’s chewing & swallowing of a variety of foods
This evaluation need to look at the WHOLE child & how a possible tongue tie affects them.

Are you curious or concerned about YOUR child’s tongue function?
Comment TONGUE TIE and I’ll DM you a simple checklist of signs to investigate.

Follow along to learn more about your child’s Breathing, Eating, Swallowing, Sleeping, & Talking. 🤩

04/03/2026

💥PARENTS! Does your child struggle with: 💥

👃🏼Breathing in/out ONLY their nose (not their mouth)
🗣️Distorted speech sounds
👄Mouth Resting Position:
👅 tongue on the roof of mouth
🦷 teeth gently closed
🤐 lips closed
👃🏼 nasal breathing
👅 Limited tongue movements

Are you curious or concerned 🤔
about YOUR child’s tongue function?

Comment TONGUE TIE and I’ll DM you
a simple checklist of signs to investigate.

Follow me for simple steps that support clearer speech.💗

04/02/2026

It’s a HUGE mistake to rush into a tongue tie release.
A tongue tie release (frenectomy) is NOT a magic fix.

Why?

1) Get oral swallowing & speech evaluations first by an SLP who specializes in orofacial myology.
Before you decide on a release, make sure your child has been assessed for:
🗣️ Speech
🍽️ Chewing
🥤 Swallowing
👅 Jaw, tongue, lip stability, control, coordination, and independent movements

2) Timing matters.
If your child is anxious, very sensitive, or won’t let anyone touch inside their mouth,
rushing can make things worse. It can lead to more sensitivity, and make these harder:
🩺 Treatment
📝 Post-release exercises
🍽️ Eating, chewing, & swallowing
🪥 Brushing and flossing

3) Your child may still use “work-around” (compensatory) habits.
Some kids learn to use other mouth muscles to help, like pushing the jaw forward, bunching the tongue, or tightening the lips.
After a release, those habits can still occur, and your child may struggle unless we retrain the muscles in the mouth first.

4) After-care exercises for proper tongue independent movements are a big deal.
A release without a follow-up plan can lead to:
💥 Too much tension when healing
🔒 The area healing inappropriately
❗ Little to no real change

So you might do the procedure, but the mouth muscles still don't work better.

5) Training the muscles in the mouth is what creates REAL change.
We need to teach the jaw, lips, and tongue how to:
⚖️ Be stable
🎯 Move with control
🤝 Work together
🔄 Move independently

This helps with breathing, eating, chewing, swallowing, talking, and an appropriate resting mouth position.

Comment BESST and we’ll DM you how to get started. 💬

Have you noticed your child’s speech gets less clear when they talk fast or get excited? 🤔Some kids sound clear when the...
04/01/2026

Have you noticed your child’s speech gets less clear when they talk fast or get excited? 🤔

Some kids sound clear when they speak slowly… but if their speed increases, words start to blur together.

This isn’t a behavior problem. It’s a coordination & independent movement issue between breathing, the jaw, and the tongue.

When speech speeds up:
👃 Nasal breathing may not happen before talking
👅 The tongue may not move quickly enough to the right spots in the mouth
🦷 The jaw may not be stable while the tongue moves
😵‍💫 The tongue may not move independently from the jaw

When these muscles in the mouth aren’t working together smoothly, speech clarity can break down.

The good news is that these patterns give us valuable clues about what the mouth muscles need.

Fast speech shows us which mouth muscles aren’t moving correctly.
It’s data, not drama.

Comment below what you notice in your child. 💬

Do people keep saying “WHAT?” when your child talks?Many parents think their child's mumbling is due to lack of effort, ...
03/31/2026

Do people keep saying “WHAT?” when your child talks?
Many parents think their child's mumbling is due to lack of effort, but that is not the case.

Kids are actually working really hard to communicate, but something is affecting how clear their words are.

One reason is a tongue tie, which can change how the tongue moves and how speech sounds are produced.
When tongue movement is restricted, it can affect speech clarity.

If your child has these challenges, an evaluation of the structure and function of the muscles in their mouth is needed.

Comment TONGUE TIE if your child is struggling and we will DM you a link with more info.

Address

10260 Baltimore National Pike
Ellicott City, MD
21042

Opening Hours

Monday 9:30am - 6:30pm
Tuesday 10am - 6:30pm
Wednesday 9:30am - 6:30pm
Thursday 9am - 6:30pm

Telephone

+14104429791

Website

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Barbara Taylor is an SLP & Certified Orofacial Myologist (COM®) & trained in CranialSacral Therapy.

Our SLPs are trained in the latest and most effective evaluation & therapy techniques, such as: level 2 PROMPT, Orofacial Myology, Myofascial release, Talk Tools, advanced Beckman stretches, Kaufman techniques, Help Me Eat (Food Chaining, SOS Approach to Feeding, AEIOU), Interactive Metronome, REI, Sign language, iPad apps for therapy, Complete Speech--SmartPalate, & more.

We treat clients with a variety of complex congenital diagnoses, Tongue Tie, oral swallowing difficulty, picky eaters, Autism, Apraxia, Down syndrome, dyslexia, language learning difficulties, tongue thrust, articulation errors, receptive/expressive language, hearing impairment, & others.