Oral sensorimotor therapy: Assessment, efficacy and future directions

Abstract

This review addresses the current state of knowledge in oral sensorimotor therapy for children with neurological impairments and ingestive problems. Comprehensive assessment of the child with dysphagia looks at the interaction of oral performance and growth. These domains include eating efficiency, oral‐motor skills, oral sensory evaluation, classification of the severity of an eating problem, interaction of respiration and ingestion, aspiration, positioning for feeding, social skills assessment, careload and assessment technologies. Oral sensorimotor therapy improves eating but not drinking skills in children 3–12 years of age. Weight gain is sufficient so that children maintain their growth channel but they do not show catchup growth. Many factors thought to contribute to better ingestive performance need further study, such as jaw and lip control in association with drinking. The earliest possible identification of infants at risk for eating impairments needs to be rigorously pursued. Such an approach offers hope that the later growth deterioration now seen in children with eating impairments may be prevented. Finally, the effect of positioning and the use of eating equipment to promote self‐feeding need further study.

Clinimetrics of measures of oropharyngeal dysphagia for preschool children with cerebral palsy and neurodevelopmental disabilities: a systematic review

“…[13][14][15] There have been three reviews documenting measures of OPD in the neonatal age group. 6,12,16 Other authors have explored assessment of OPD in children with CP; 13,17 however, these reviews were not systematic. Hence, our aim was to conduct a systematic review investigating OPD measures for preschool children with CP or neurodevelopmental disabilities.…”

``Whole Body'' Mobility After One Year of Intraoral Appliance Therapy in Children with Cerebral Palsy and Moderate Eating Impairment

“…Casaer et al [11] showed that postural controls are present in the neonate, but that they vary with behavioral state and positioning and seem to be task specific, i.e., they change with feeding. Our heightened awareness of the role of postural support/control has evolved from our studies on the efficacy of oral motor therapies in children with CP and eating impairments [12][13][14][15][16][17]. In this domain, it has become clear that the safety of ingestion is dependent on proper positioning of the head, neck, and trunk [18,19].…”