What is speech therapy massage? What benefit does he have and to whom he is not recommended?
Massage of the tongue for children or, in a different way, speech therapy massage is a method of affecting the muscles of the speech apparatus, nerve endings on the face and blood vessels. With the right technique and skillful execution of movements with massage of the tongue, lips, face, muscle tone increases and it becomes easier for children to pronounce sounds correctly.
To achieve the effect, one or two procedures are not enough. As a rule, a course of 10-12 sessions is prescribed, the first of which lasts for several minutes. In the future, the duration increases. This approach is necessary, so that the muscles of the speech apparatus are accustomed to some additional loads.
Benefit:
- Stimulates the muscles of the speech apparatus, which contributes to the proper development of spoken language;
- Increases the elasticity of muscle fibers;
- Reduces salivation;
- Activates the correct operation of sites that have insufficient ability to reduce;
- Prepares the articulatory apparatus for the development of voluntary movements;
- Relieves excessive muscle tension in the articulatory apparatus
Contraindications:
- Infectious and respiratory-viral diseases;
- Diseases of the skin;
- Lip herpes;
- Conjunctivitis;
- Stomatitis;
- Convulsions.
How is massage of the tongue at the speech therapist or at home with increased tonus
With an increased tone to relax the muscles, the child is laid either horizontally or in a comfortable chair and performs light, slow movements, each of which repeats from 8 to 10-12 times:
- The session should begin with the neck. Slow turns of the head clockwise and counterclockwise, left and right, light massage movements with minimal pressure on the skin in the neck. All this helps to relax the language;
- The next step is a face. From the beginning, smoothing movements in the forehead, eyes, cheeks and chin, then from the neck to the collarbone and at the end - the jaw, earlobes and stroking from the forehead to the jaw;
- To relax the lips, do the following: easy stroking from the bottom-up and vice versa, from the corners to the center, the upper and lower lips, movements from the nose to the corners of the mouth, small pressure on the lips;
- To reduce the tone of the tongue, lightly shaking movements are made to the left and right, up and down, and the edge and center are stroked by the thumb and forefinger, they are shaken, patted and kneaded by pulling the tongue toward oneself and to the side.
How is a massage of the tongue for children at home with reduced tone?
The number of repetitions of movements is the same as with increased tone. The emphasis is on activating the sites of articulatory muscles, in particular in the area of cheekbones, cheeks. The pressure on these or those sites is higher than with an increased tone, but increases gradually and so as not to cause painful sensations.
- Massage begins with the transverse stroking of the forehead and passes to the upper border of the eye sockets. Then the sequence is as follows: from nose to ear; from the lower jaw to the ears; tingling and rubbing the muscles on the cheekbones; kneading of cheeks, lips, nasolabial folds. At the end, using a special device or manually, use the techniques of vibration.
- With the help of a speech therapy massage for the tongue or by hand massage of this organ is carried out.
Speech massage: video and recommendations
In order to finally understand for yourself, as the session is taking place, watch video of speech therapy massage. Before you record a child for massage procedures, it is recommended to make sure of the qualification of a specialist, asking them to produce the appropriate certificate. In addition, it is important that the speech therapist review the child's medical history for contraindications and the course of development. With spasmodic manifestations, massage is not recommended.