Oral-motor skills refer to the movement of the muscles of the face (e.g., mouth, jaw, tongue, and lips). This includes muscle tone, muscle strength, range of motion, speed, coordination, and dissociation (the ability to move oral structures, such as the tongue and lip, independently of each other) . Clinical experience suggests that the acquisition and maturation of oral-motor movements underlies sound production and feeding skills (e.g., sucking, biting, and chewing) . Children with developmental disabilities may demonstrate oral-motor patterns that are not observed in typical development. Atypical oral-motor patterns include jaw thrusting, tongue thrust, tonic bite reflex, lip retraction, tongue retraction, and nasal regurgitation. A child’s oral-motor skills may be assessed by an occupational therapist.
