Cerebral palsy and oral aversion/reduced mouth opening

alex78 · April 2017

my little boy has spastic, quadriplegic cerebral palsy following a brain injury at birth. He is doing really well on medication but has significantly reduced mouth opening and now puts his hands up to stop you trying to go near his mouth. The SALT don't really have much advice regarding this and I was wandering if anyone had any experience of this and had come across any helpful treatments.

Thanks

Blue Frog · April 2017

Hi, I remember hearing a bit about this on a course I was on - about feeding difficulties. They suggested trying vibrating toys/toothbrush gently on the side of the face - as a bit of stimulation to get used to. I have no idea if it works (we have the opposite problem I need to stop things going in my child's mouth!!).

Some info here... https://www.arktherapeutic.com/blog/oral-defensiveness-aversions/

alex78 · April 2017

Thank you for your advice blue frog. We have actually got him an ark device recently so will see how it goes! Certainly can't make it worse!!

good luck keeping things out of your child's mouth!!!!

Cerebral palsy and oral aversion/reduced mouth opening

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