Speaking and eating require fine control of complex mouth movements.
Oral motor control is the control of movements of the mouth and throat. The oral muscles move the jaw, tongue and larynx into the shapes needed for speech sounds and for feeding. Without control of these muscles, feeding may be messy and words indistinct.
Expert Insight
In studies at Lancaster University, UK, comparing children of normal language development and those with difficulties, children with poor oral motor control were universally poor at language. This was irrespective of their intelligence.
Function
Some feeding and speech movements are complex, involving several sets of muscles at once. Examples include licking the lips, keeping lips closed while chewing, and touching the roof of the mouth or the back of the teeth with the tongue. Such complex movements cause difficulty for children without fine oral motor skills.
Associated Conditions
Conditions associated with poor language development include autism, oral apraxia (termed dyspraxia in Europe) and Down Syndrome. Autistic children frequently have poor oral motor development. Downs children have weak oral muscles, with a protruding tongue and feeding difficulties commonly seen. In apraxia the mouth and tongue present normally, but the patient has poor coordination of her movements or poor understanding of make those movements. This affects the control of pitch, tone, volume and the making of specific letter sounds.
Tags: oral motor, language development, motor control, oral muscles, poor language, poor oral