When Sockie falls off
My son is nearly 8 years old. We purchased Unplugging The Thumb earlier this year. After watching the CD, my son decided to quit. He wore the Sockie to bed, but it either fell off during the night or he removed it in his sleep. After a few nights, he said Sockie was gone. He must have thrown it away. The dentist told him that he is going to put a rake into his mouth in two weeks if he doesn’t stop sucking his thumb. He races home from school, opens the door and begins sucking his thumb. It is a very embedded bad habit. His palate is very messed up according to his dentist. He also has an open bite. What can I do?
It is important that he doesn’t feel like a failure. When the Sockie came off at night, the best thing would have been to compliment him for his efforts and his courage for going to sleep while wearing it. It has to be a positive accomplishment, but I’m afraid he looked at it as a failure…which would explain how poor Sockie suddenly came up MIA!! Since the CD was effective, I suggest you look at it once again with him and ask him if he’d like to try again. Tell him that sometimes we have to do something more than once to get it “just right” and he’s the kind of boy who will probably be a big success this second time. Have him take a plain sock this time and decorate it simply, once again naming it. Be sure he understands that he is acting very grown up by starting out the night the right way, by wearing Sockie. If he discovers in the morning that it has come off, ask him if he’d like you to pick up some paper tape at the store to wrap lightly around the bottom edge. Explain that the paper tape will not stop him from removing Sockie and sucking his thumb if he decides to do so…it is only a reminder for him. Then quickly say that since he has made the decision to quit, he’ll probably want to keep it on his hand all night long. We don’t want to scare him about the rake, but perhaps you could look online at some pictures of rakes and other strong undesirable deterrents. You can tell him that he is big enough, smart enough, etc. so he probably won’t have to worry about that since he can stop his habit in a fun way. The rake is not fun! The UTT way is fun….Let him know that you have confidence that he’ll make the better choice. Do keep me posted on the progress and thank you for sharing your question with others.
Ideas for adult tongue sucker
i just want to know some ways to help me stop sucking on my tongue and my family from it to. i do have allergies and my tonsils are not swollen but my allergies are only seasonal. Even when I’m not experiencing any allergies symptoms i still tend to suck on my tongue. Please help, it bothers me so bad, there are some days when it gets really bad and I have to chew on gum to stop myself from sucking on my tongue because it starts to hurt my jaw.
High palate, restricted frenum and R problem
9-year-old client who was diagnosed as an infant with a tongue tie but parents were advised not to have it clipped at the time. As a result, he had tremendous feeding problems which mom recalls were a “nightmare.”
Fissured tongue
I just screened a new resident post CVA with noted aphasia in her record and some dysarthria. On exam, her tongue had a fairly significant fissure at midline. Any recommendations for healing?
Drinking from cup and straw
Can you tell me how to train labial not lingual receiving of liquids from cup and straw?
Should they anchor at the spot or dangle tongue tip just behind teeth?
Help with a repaired cleft lip/palate patient who is still drooling
I need help with a repaired cleft lip/palate patient who is still drooling. I’ve been working with him for several months – lip strengthening, resting tongue posture, and more. I feel like I’m spinning my wheels trying to get him to habituate lips together. He can do this without much tension…his lower lip, to me is very “droopy” and weak. What can I do?
Can I do Myo Manual program on my own
I noticed as well that I tend to keep my mouth partially open when I get distracted. I was researching the internet and I saw a video and found the website.
I think your kit could be a good idea. Is it possible to do it on my own, just from the manual?
Artificially hiding a lisp
I realized that this 10 year old had a combination of an interdental lisp and an upper dentalized lisp, that I was initially perceiving as a lateral lisp bc there was some lateral airflow based on his broad tongue configuration. Does that make sense to you????
Ank and palatal expansion, when to do it
I was recently referred a case where there is an obvious need for a frenectomy, she is 9 and is getting an expander TOMORROW. I need to decide to recommend she get the surgery now and take my chances with the rehab when I basically can’t do much more than mobility work while we wait 4-6 months for the expander to be removed, or wait for the frenum surgery after the expander comes off.
Adult with airway issues
Surgeons tend to look at the anatomy and then predict what problems are the result of what they see, rather than actually measuring airflow, as is done in most cleft palate clinics. The anatomy is not a good guide to predict the physiology involved…
