International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI) | Volume V, Issue IV, April 2018 | ISSN 2321–2705

Effectiveness of Oral Motor Exercise on Speech Articulation and Production of Children with Orofacial Myofunctional Disorder

Patrick Ikani Egaga¹, Temitope Adebisi Amodu², Oluseyi Akintunde Dada³

  ¹Department of Special Education, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria
²Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Child & Adolescent Unit, Oshodi/Yaba Lagos State, Nigeria
³Department of Special Education, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria

Abstract: – This study investigated the effectiveness of oral motor exercise on speech sound production and articulatory coordination of children with orofacial myofunctional disorder. A sample of fourteen (14) children was randomly assigned to experimental and control group for the study. The pre-test, post-test control experimental design was used for the study. Eight (8) participants were in the experimental group, while six (6) participants were in the control group. The ages of the participants were between 4 and 12 years. The treatment exercise took six (6) weeks for the experimental group, while the control group was on word drills (conventional treatment).Data was collected using speech disorder diagnostic scale. The scale was validated by expertswith reliability co-efficient of .88 through an inter-rater procedure. The Data collected were analyzed using ANCOVA. Findings of the study indicated that oral motor exercise was significantly effective in the speech sound production and articulatory coordination of children with orofacial myofunctional disorder. Oral motor exercise was more effective on the articulation coordination,than on speech sound production. It was therefore recommended among others,that speech therapist should use oral motor exercise for children with orofacial myofunctional disorder, and be retrained on the use of combination of oral motor exercise and other speech therapy.

Keywords: Oral Motor Exercise, Speech Sound Production, Articulatory Coordination and Orofacial Myofunctional Disorder

I. INTRODUCTION

Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders (OMD) also referred to as tongue thrust is a common speech defect that has become a serious concern for many parents and speech therapy practitioners in Nigeria. This is because, the tongue functions against or between the front and side teeth when one is swallowing instead of lifting up into the palate (Mason, 2005). The Oro from latin word ‘Oral ‘means mouth, facial referring to the face. The Greek prefix Myo means muscle, the term (OMD) implies all symptoms related to an imbalance of the muscular system of the face, as well as in and outside of the mouth.