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ASHA Certified Therapists
Linda K Swank, PhD, CCC-SLP
Dr. Swank received her BA and MA from Wichita State
University and the PhD from the University of Kansas. She taught
for several years at the University of Virginia,
prior to returning to Wichita State, as Chairperson of the Department
of Communicative Disorders and Sciences. Dr. Swank is a nationally
recognized speaker on dyslexia, oral and written language acquisition
and disorders across the life span. Since moving to Austin, Dr.
Swank has lectured at Texas State University in San Marcos.
 Services:
Tongue
Thrust Therapy
(Also known as Oral Myofunctional Therapy)
To speak clearly and precisely the speaker must
hear language, think about what is heard, and be able to efficiently
move the articulators(lips, tongues, cheeks, soft palate) in
contact with the teeth, hard palate and jaw bones (the skeletal
parts
of the mouth). Tongue Thrust
Therapy provides specific training for individuals who have
tongue protrusion, and “mushy mouth” speech.
According to the American Speech-Language-
Hearing Association - ASHA Supplement #5, March, 1991:
The term tongue thrust describes the
abnormal fronting of the tongue at rest and
during swallowing, lip incompetency,
and sucking habits.
These conditions can often co-occur with misarticulations.
Tongue fronting may reflect learned behaviors, physical variables,
or both.
Research indicates that oral myofunctional therapy is effective
in modifying disorders of tongue and lip posture and movement.
Investigation, assessment, and treatment
of oral myofunctional disorders are within the purview of speech-language
pathology.
PRESCHOOL SPEECH-LANGUAGE
 90% of all 36 month old children correctly produce the following
speech sounds:
/n/ /m/ /p/ /h/  /w/ and all vowels
90% of all 48 month old children correctly produce the following
speech sounds:
/k/ /g/ /d/ /f/
/y/ /wh/ in addition to the sounds above.
90% of all 60 month old children (5 year olds) correctly produce
all English Speech sounds,
including /r/ /s/ /l/ /th/ /sh/ /ch/
/z/ /v/
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) states
that 10% of all preschool
children will exhibit speech or language
problems. This statistic is based on research with
preschool
populations. Please see www.asha.org for further information.
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