Free Your Speech Therapy Services

08/04/2023

09/24/2022

My favorite tips for parents of late talkers and AAC users! Model language for your child by being their Morgan Freeman 🐧

07/29/2022

Did you know your child’s habits influence their jaw development.

I think it’s important for parents to understand this, so they can make informed conscious decisions about what is right for their children.

Many people think crooked teeth are genetic or bad luck, well we can see here they are not.

Both extended pacifier use and thumb sucking demonstrate in stark clarity how the way we use our mouth shapes its growth and development.

In dental practice I see patients with open bites in adults quite regularly.

They either think it’s normal and say ‘Oh yes my front teeth don’t meet, it’s hard to bite food’, or want to correct the issue.

When we use root cause and functional diagnoses principles we can see that dental issues must be intervened in earlier, but there is also hope for those who have grown with the issue throughout their life.

Orthodontics and braces to correct this issue act to ‘drag’ the teeth down to close the bite. Problem is if there is a functional problem that remains, the teeth regress.

It happens quite frequently and is reported in the literature.

Looking at the photos above you can see a child at ages 2-4 who develop an open bite has high risk of other oral health problems.

These include:

Mouth breathing

Low tongue swallow.

In adults you can have reasonable success to correct these cases by addressing the causes. Training the tongue NOT to go into this place and orthopaedic guards to either prevent or recorrect the underdeveloped upper jaw.

However, treatment like this is always dependent on training and habit formation. So, it’s a lot of time and effort.

In kids you can close these bites in 3 months.

By using an approach that we want to correct oral habits at ages 4-6 instead of waiting until age 12-13.

The other side of the coin is that pacifier and thumb sucking habits hold hard in kids.

We only used a pacifier very sparingly for the first 4 or so months then mak sure to remove so that the baby can establish close oral posture.

I’d love to hear your experiences on thumb sucking and pacifier use.

06/18/2022

It looks like play because for most kids, that’s what it SHOULD look like!

For littles, this usually looks like playing with toys or people, but play can look so many different ways, especially as kids get older. And it’s also important to note that some kids are overwhelmed with play- especially when it lacks structure. It’s important to follow the child’s lead and interests and meet them where they are! ❤️

01/07/2022

Our website got revamped! Check it out!
www.fystherapy.com

11/21/2021

matters!!! All kids should be able to see themselves in the toys at the store, commercials on TV, as well as in magazines and movies. ❤❤❤❤❤

11/18/2021

Do you know someone who had Covid? Are they different now? Do they struggle problem solving, finding their words, or possibly even seem depressed?

Covid has affected many individuals in the last 2 years. While there is still a lot we don't know about Covid, we do know that speech therapy can help with many of the Covid long-haul symptoms. Contact us today to get more information.

11/04/2021

11/03/2021

The holidays will soon be upon us..... 🍗 As a person who stutters, does this bring you excitement? Or possible anxiety??? 👀

While we all love seeing Great Aunt Martha,👩‍🦳 the holidays can put a heavy burden on those who stutter.

The National Stuttering Association is a great resource for learning about stuttering. Check out some of the events they are hosting this month!