LOCATIONS & ACCOMODATIONS

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Finally, a course that is equally valuable for occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists. This workshop helps therapists choose appropriate treatment techniques for pediatric clients with a variety of disabilities (e.g., pre-maturity, autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy). It is particularly helpful for occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists who work on teams and need to divide responsibility when addressing feeding, eating, drinking, oral hygiene, orofacial myofunctional, functional speech, and motor planning concerns. Many of the techniques learned by participants are “good practices” that can be safely taught to care providers. Group interactive experiences and DVD demonstrations provide many opportunities for clinical problem solving.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Upon course completion, participants will: 

1.  Identify the continuum of oral function and oral sensory concerns/challenges across disabilities (e.g., autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, and other developmental delays).
2.  Perform general oral massage and other oral sensory techniques that can be used with most individuals.
3.  Perform “good” feeding techniques that can be used with most individuals.
4.  Identify appropriate tools for oral massage/facilitation, feeding/eating/drinking, oral hygiene, oral activities/exercises, orofacial myofunctional work, articulation/speech production issues, intelligibility concerns, dysarthria, and dyspraxia.
5.  Identify techniques that both OTs and SLPs can use to improve speech intelligibility as an activity of daily living.
6.  Point out appropriate times or situations for referral to or collaboration with other professionals and paraprofessionals.  

SCHEDULE

DAY 1
7:45 Registration/Sign-In
8:00 Key Assessment Concepts
8:30 Useful Anatomy and Physiology
9:30 Sensory Processing
10:00 Group Experience: Using Music in Treatment
10:30 Break
10:45 Group Experience: Typical Oral Development, Birth to 24 Months
12:00 Lunch (on your own)
1:00 Treatment Across Age Groups
1:30 Movement and Positioning
2:00 Group Experience: Oral Massage/Facilitation
3:00 Break
3:15 Tools for Oral Massage/Facilitation
3:45 Pacifier Use/Thumb Sucking/Mouth Toys
4:30 Jaw Work (The Keystone)
5:00 End of Session/Sign-Out

DAY 2
7:45 Sign-In
8:00 Jaw Work Continued
9:00 Feeding/Eating/Drinking Tools
9:45 Group Experience: Practicing Feeding Techniques
10:30 Break
10:45 Working Through Food/Fluid Selectivity
11:30 Resolving Drooling: A Four Part Process
12:00 Lunch (on your own)
1:00 Appropriate Tools for Dissociation/Grading/
Direction of Mouth Movement
2:00 Orofacial Myofunctional Work
2:30 Speech as a Fine Motor Function
3:00 Break
3:15 Improving Speech Intelligibility as an Activity of Daily Living (Strategies SLPs, OTs, and others can use)
4:15 Group Experience: Putting It Together
5:00 End of Session/Sign-Out

FACULTY

Diane Bahr, MS, CCC-SLP, NCTMB, CIMI is a certified speech-language pathologist, massage practitioner, and infant massage instructor in private practice. She has practiced speech-language pathology since 1980. Her experiences include teaching graduate, undergraduate, and continuing education courses; working with children and adults who exhibit a variety of speech and language disorders; and publishing/presenting (e.g., ASHA, 2008 & 2009) information and research on oral motor function, assessment, and treatment. She is the author of the textbook Oral Motor Assessment and Treatment: Ages and Stages (Allyn & Bacon, 2001). She has a new book being published by Future Horizons entitled Nobody Ever Told Me (or My Mother) That:  From Bottles and Breathing to Healthy Speech Development. See www.oral-motor.com for more information.