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Music Therapy - Feeding Support - Myofunctional Therapy

MyoMusic

Music Integrated Myofunctional Therapy

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A space where therapy is shaped around your child's

Needs
Strength
Readiness
Way of Learning

What is it?

Oral-motor exercises through music and play,  adapted to your child’s needs.
 

Music-Integrated Oral Myofunctional Therapy combines targeted oral-motor exercises with music, rhythm, movement and play. Music can be used as a therapeutic tool to work on attention, memory, sequencing, motor planning, imitation, timing, coordination and regulation alongside oral-motor skills.

Depending on the child, sessions may also begin with reflex integration and nervous-system regulation activities before moving into oral work.
 

The aim is to help children build the foundations needed for breathing, oral posture, chewing, coordination and feeding in a way that feels achievable and engaging.
 

Why might my child need this?

The muscles of the mouth, face and jaw are involved in much more than eating. They play a role in breathing, chewing, swallowing, speech, facial posture and everyday oral function.
 

When these movements are difficult, poorly coordinated or rely on compensatory patterns, a child may need support to develop more efficient ways of using these muscles.
 

Some children may have difficulty with:

  • Mouth breathing or difficulty maintaining nasal breathing

  • Open-mouth posture or poor lip seal

  • Tongue resting in an unusual position (not on roof of the mouth)

  • Difficulty chewing or managing different food textures

  • Reduced oral awareness or sensitivity

  • Difficulty coordinating tongue, lips and jaw movements
     

For some children, the challenge is not simply the oral movement itself. They may also need support with regulation, attention, motor planning, coordination or body awareness before they can effectively practise a new skill.
 

This is why sessions may combine oral-motor work with movement, rhythm, music and, when appropriate, reflex integration activities , helping the child work on the foundations that support participation and learning.
 

What happens in a session?

Each session is adapted to the child’s needs, readiness and goals. It may include:
 

1) Regulation & preparation
Some children need to feel more organised and ready before beginning oral-motor work. We may start with movement, rhythm, reflex integration or other body-based activities to support regulation, postural control and readiness to participate.
 

2) Music integrated into the session
Music is used according to the child and the therapeutic goal. It may be a central part of an activity, or simply provide a cue, rhythm or structure during targeted oral-motor practice.
 

3) Targeted oral-motor exercises
We work on specific oral functions based on the child’s individual needs, which may include:

  • Lip seal and lip control

  • Tongue movement and coordination

  • Tongue resting posture

  • Jaw stability and coordination

  • Chewing patterns

  • Oral awareness

  • Nasal breathing

  • Oral-motor planning and control
     

4) Home practice
Parents are given simple exercises, songs or routines that can be incorporated into everyday life. The focus is on making practice realistic, consistent and easy to carry over at home without overwhelming families with a long list of exercises.
 

Why integrate music?

Because oral-motor skills don't happen in isolation.
 

A child needs to attend, understand, plan, organise, remember, coordinate and regulate in order to learn a new motor skill.
 

Music gives us a structured way to practise several of these processes together. Rhythm provides timing and predictability. Songs provide repetition and memory cues. Musical turn-taking encourages listening and initiation. Movement can connect whole-body organisation with more precise motor tasks.
 

And for some children, regulation comes before all of this.
 

The session may therefore look very different from one child to another. One child may spend more time on reflex integration and regulation; another may need more cognitive-motor activities; another may be ready for more direct oral-motor practice.
 

The music is not the therapy by itself. It is one of the therapeutic tools we use to help the child regulate, learn, practise and integrate skills.
 

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