Oral Placement Therapy

Oral Placement Therapy, created by Sara Rosenfeld Johnson, the founder of TalkTools®, has been integrated into our practice for the past five years alongside traditional speech therapy methods. Our experience has demonstrated its effectiveness in assisting children in transitioning from non-verbal communication to producing sounds. Additionally, this approach has proven beneficial for children facing feeding challenges or food sensitivities. We have observed remarkable progress in children diagnosed with Autism, Apraxia, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Developmental Delays, and various other childhood language disorders.

How it Works ?

OPT provides instruction in oral structural placement for individuals who are unable to produce or imitate speech sounds through conventional auditory or visual methods. For these individuals, it is essential to enhance speech sound production by building upon phonemes and other similar oral movements that they are already capable of producing. Once a client successfully articulates a specific speech sound using traditional auditory or visual cues, the speech therapy process can advance in a more conventional manner. It is important to note that OPT constitutes only a minor component of a comprehensive speech and language program and should not be implemented in isolation. The activities are meticulously chosen to encourage the same movements necessary for the targeted speech production. These activities can be completed in less than 15 minutes and serve to redirect attention and concentration from a sensory processing standpoint

Who are concerned ?

OPT is applicable to clients across a wide range of ages and abilities. It can be integrated into treatment plans for various speech disorders, including dysarthria, apraxia of speech, voice disorders, fluency disorders, and individuals recovering from a cerebrovascular accident (CVA), as well as those experiencing mild to profound hearing loss. Many clients who benefit from these techniques have previously undergone traditional auditory and visually based speech facilitation for several years, often with limited success. It is important to note that the challenges these clients face in mastering target speech sounds are not attributable to any individual's shortcomings. The ineffectiveness of traditional speech facilitation for these clients may stem from underlying movement or placement disorders. Therefore, prior to implementing any OPT techniques, a comprehensive assessment of the client's motor functions related to speech and feeding is essential.