The Non-Speech Oral Movement Assessment for Children.
Leenke van Haaften, Marloes Lagarde, Marjo van Gerven and 4 others
PMID 38295771WHAT IT FOUND
Typically developing Dutch children aged 2 to 8 were assessed on 34 non-speech oral movements.
Most items showed moderate-to-excellent reliability and clear age-related improvement. Reference values allow clinicians to judge if a child's oral motor skills are typical for their age.
Key findings
01The assessment showed moderate-to-excellent inter-rater reliability for most items, with only one item (facial symmetry: eyes) showing poor reliability.
02Execution of non-speech oral movements improved significantly with age for all items except three related to facial symmetry and closed mouth.
03No gender differences were found for most items, except for two tongue lateralization tasks where girls performed earlier in younger age groups.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study was conducted in the Netherlands, so the reference values may not apply to children from other linguistic or cultural backgrounds. Inter-rater reliability was only assessed on 100 video recordings, not the full sample. One item (facial symmetry: eyes) had poor reliability and should be interpreted with caution. The study excluded children with known swallowing, feeding, neurological, or anatomical issues, so it does not describe the performance of children with these conditions.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study received no financial support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not use these reference values to justify non-speech oral motor exercises to improve speech or swallowing. The authors state that practicing these movements does not significantly contribute to those functions, and the tool is intended for diagnostic comparison, not as a therapy target.