For the sake of good, therapeutic fun, we've sacrificed our hearing. Yes, the trumpet is mildly annoying but it's been good for Matthew so we put up with it.The Ambi Toy Trumpet (smaller toy pictured) was one of the toys we used to reinforce and help Matthew master the concept of blowing.
He's had this this trumpet/horn since he was 26 months old. It took him a few days to learn to get good lip seal around the wide mouth opening. It didn't take him much effort to successfully make the trumpet sound off. This is probably one of the easiest trumpets to sound off either by exhaling or inhaling (through the mouth of course), similar to the TalkTools Pre-hierarchy Horn.
The plastic train whistle (also pictured above with the flat mouthpiece) is not easy for beginners as it requires more airflow and good lip seal. Matthew successfully made the train whistle sound off only after he mastered the Ambi trumpet.
Both are good toys for developing oral-motor skills such as lip closure and lip rounding.
Other ways that we have practiced blowing without needing lip closure include:
- blowing feathers.
- blowing cotton balls or craft pom poms.
- blowing paper strips or pieces or tissue.
- blowing dandelions.
- blowing on our skin or hair.
- and finally, blowing bubbles.
These days, he blows into this trumpet for fun and attention, as he demonstrates in this video. He can also blow bubbles on his own after many days of practice. We also have the TalkTools Horn Kit which I will write about another time.
7 comments:
He had me in splits...thats more laughing than blowing. That was such a cute video. I have the pre-heirarchy horn but find it hard to blow myself so doubt if Saira will be able to blow it. I think it might be a faulty piece.
Matthew's laugh is contagious! He is so cute. I think Matthew will love the straw whistle, you can get them at http://www.arktherapeutic.com/StrawWhistle.html
My boy loves them. The whistles and horns sold at the dollar store work as well as the horn hierarchy and they are cheaper. We started very early with our boy to blow because he has tongue trust. Here is the link of what I have post about oral motor, you may find something that can be helpful for you guys.
I love Matthew's laugh!
Oops! Here is the link
http://asuperbaby.blogspot.com/search/label/Oral%20Motor%20Skills
Have I told you lately how much I LOVE your blog? My son is 21 months old & I'm ust looking into introducing him to some horns & whistles to help promote lip closure. . Your reviews are always helpful! Thanks so Much, Kim
THank you so much! I was wondering what therapists did to help with the sucking and tongue placement issues I am seeing with little G. She drinks with her tongue like an infant causing her to burp alot. I have taught her to cover her mouth and say excuse me in the past three months but was wondering how to eliminate the butp itself! ha ha! I have the feathers and pompoms and a easy mouth blown toy, simple small recorder style. I cant wait to get to work... I mean PLAY!!!(thank you for the comment on our wall mural. I was glad to do it for our church.)
Loved the video, oh my his laugh is so great.
We also have blown on party blowers to work on the same skills (some are much easier than others we found out).
@Tina, it was definitely more laughing than blowing. :-) Maybe you can get your pre-hierarchy horn replaced. Sounds like it could be faulty.
@Rosa Maria, thanks for mentioning the straw whistle. We have a couple of those too. I didn't even think about those for this post. Maybe I'll write a separate post about straw drinking. hmmm... Thanks for sharing the link and your ideas as well!
@Kim, awww thanks! I'm more than happy to share what we're learning. And I'm so glad it's been helpful to you.
@Anna, good luck trying to eliminate the burp. haha! Straw drinking might help G with the tongue placement. Or is drinking with a straw with her tongue like an infant causing the burping?
@Rochelle, isn't it interesting that some party blowers are easier than others? Glad you found ones that work for you.
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