There’s a new (old?) trend in town, and it’s making the rounds on social media. Parents are noticing and are understandably confused, concerned, and wondering if “myo-therapy” is right for their child.

First, some background: Within the field of speech-language pathology, there are some perspectives that go in and out of favor over time and create a lot of buzz when they’re *in* — apraxia, central auditory processing disorder, ABA, and what is currently called orofacial myofunctional therapy, to name a few. Fortunately, as SLPs, we don’t choose our approaches based on vibes alone! Our field relies on Evidence Based Practice (EBP), which includes current scientific research, clinical impressions, and client values/perspectives.

In short, we have some pretty big concerns about claims that orofacial myofunctional therapy can help improve speech production, autism, fluency, sleep, learning disabilities, and a host of other issues without actually tackling the stated issues directly. The age-old saying often holds true: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t. To be clear, it’s certainly possible for orofacial myofunctional therapy to be helpful for some clients in certain cases. However, the lack of consistency in definitions, training, strategies, regulation, and research leads us at Stewart SLP to a healthy degree of skepticism.

Are we experts at supporting children with speech production difficulties and language challenges? Absolutely! Do we provide OMT? Not right now. We always keep an eye on current research to provide best outcomes for our clients. If the research changes, we’ll let you know!

For a more thorough review of the current research evidence, The Informed SLP offers this assessment. While it’s geared toward SLPs, it is a fairly accessible read and may be helpful for parents looking to understand more about this controversial topic. One main takeaway: “No, we don’t have compelling evidence that OMT works for communication disorders.”