Nonverbal? Try These Lip Exercises for Speech | Autism #6 👄

👋🏽 Hi, I’m Amy Sturkey, a retired pediatric physical therapist with over 35 years of experience. Children often make meaningful progress when practice is structured, supportive, and shared with someone they trust. For children who have difficulty with imitation or motor planning, learning alongside a parent can make challenging skills more accessible and motivating. 💙 👩🏽‍👦🏽 Meet Palaash and His Mom, Nemu In this video, you’ll see Palaash, a 12-year-old with autism, working with his mom, Nemu. Palaash communicates primarily by typing on a QWERTY communication device and is not yet able to speak verbally. His parents actively support his development, and he participates in speech therapy, physical therapy, and therapeutic swim lessons. I previously worked with Palaash as his physical therapist, and it has been a privilege to continue supporting his progress over time. 🌱 🟥 What You’ll See in This Video This is Video #6 in Palaash’s series and focuses on lip strengthening and lip positioning using the Webber Oral Motor Photo Cards and parent-led modeling. In this session, we practice: ✔🏽 Puckering the lips (squeeze together and push forward) ✔🏽 Using two fingers to stretch the lips laterally ✔🏽 Tucking the lower lip under the teeth (for /f/ sound preparation) ✔🏽 Beginning upper lip tuck with tongue depressor support ✔🏽 Holding positions for increasing durations ✔🏽 10 repetitions per activity to build strength and endurance ✔🏽 Reading the card before and after the action to reinforce motor planning You’ll see clear progress compared to earlier sessions. When these activities were first introduced, Nemu needed to physically assist each movement. Now, Palaash independently looks at the card and performs several lip movements without hands-on help. One interesting observation: his lower lip demonstrates more mobility than his upper lip, and nasal breathing appears to influence sound production during lip positioning. This video intentionally shows the teaching process — including cueing, graded assistance, and discussion — not just the final result. 🪞💪🏾 For Parents and Therapists If you’re supporting a child who is autistic, nonverbal, or working on oral-motor planning and lip control, this video offers practical ideas for: • Parent-supported modeling • Structured repetition • Fading physical assistance • Using literacy strengths to reinforce learning • Gradually increasing hold time for strength 🔍 About the Oral Motor Cards I am not affiliated with Super Duper and receive no financial incentive if you click the link below. I’m sharing this resource because I used it regularly in clinical practice. 🔗 Webber Photo Oral Motor Cards https://www.superduperinc.com/webber-oralmotor-photo-cards.html?srsltid=AfmBOoqEjJtIWYTYlXkBlwZ3joZVO19q6fJQl8dmKO-CyrniYLxIbaPE 🎥 Watch Palaash’s Full Video Series 👉🏽 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAkJbMrHyKjPwLKSTp9mZBxo0RujvdTYO 🌈🌐 Stay Connected 🌐 Website: www.pediatricPTexercises.com 📘 Facebook: Pediatric Physical Therapy Exercises 📧 Email: amysturkey@gmail.com Please note: I cannot provide treatment recommendations for a child I have not personally evaluated. 📚 Children’s Educational Books 📘 P is for Poop and Pee Accidents https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BLSRJ483 📘 A is for Anxiety https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09LXQ3W6V 📘 A is for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08QH9H5HR 📘 C is for Cerebral Palsy https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088TSJCYP 📘 D is for Down Syndrome https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079P8HH49 📘 A is for Autism https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071F4FFTB 📘 Professional Books for Pediatric Therapists 📗 Pediatric Physical Therapy Strengthening Exercises for the Hips https://www.amazon.com/dp/0998156736 📗 Pediatric Physical Therapy Strengthening Exercises for the Knees https://www.amazon.com/dp/0998156760 📗 Pediatric Physical Therapy Strengthening Exercises for the Ankles https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TX2ZCFD 🌍 Captions & Accessibility ▶️ To turn on captions: Click CC 🌐 To change caption language: Settings → Subtitles/CC → Auto-translate