Miss Danielle: Qualified Orofacial Myologist!
We are so happy to share the good news of Miss Danielle’s most recent professional achievement: her completion of her Qualified Orofacial Myologist training! This certification means that she is now qualified to use the techniques covered in this training in her treatment of Reach for Speech clients.
Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy is a technique of Speech Therapy that SLP’s can study to attain Qualified Orofacial Myologist certification. This allows them to help children with Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders, such as Tongue Thrusting, not only speak more clearly but also more effectively participate in daily activities like eating and sleeping.
In this post, Miss Danielle shares more about her experience completing the training, what inspired her to pursue it, and how it will benefit her patients!
What made you interested in getting this certification?
Reach for Speech Owner, Deb Wygant, and I identified an area of need within the company and decided to delve into orofacial myofunctional disorders to better serve our clients by targeting the root of the problematic systems.
What have you gained through achieving this certification?
It has been a fun way to merge speech and swallowing musculature and mechanics together, and it has helped us reach our discharge goals in a faster, more systematic way. I love continuing to learn new and exciting things in the field, and completing this certification has opened up a new area for me to help more kids. I'm excited to share the information with our team of therapists and the community!
How will you be able to use this new skill set to help your patients?
Sometimes our clients hit a plateau, and we have trouble getting them to the next level because we are thinking too small. My favorite thing so far about this certification and the material I have studied is that it has helped me to think about my clients from a different viewpoint.
This information has allowed me to see the "whole picture" of the child - from structures, to breathing, sleeping, swallowing, and articulation. I'm looking forward to using this new skill set to build care teams that consider the client's overall wellbeing, not just fixing their lisp or teaching them to make an /r/ sound.
How long was the program and what did it entail?
The program consisted of a two-day intensive seminar and additional recordings, equating to 28 hours of coursework. After that I had to earn passing marks on an exam and complete a clinical case study, which required me to show understanding of the current research and training materials and mastery in implementing the Myo Manual.
In all, we covered diagnostics, treatment planning, and habituation of skills to remediate OMDs. I've invested almost a year of continued learning in order to obtain this certification, from when I first enrolled in the program until I earned the designation of QOM - Qualified Orofacial Myologist!
We are beyond proud of Miss Danielle and so grateful for her ongoing dedication to developing her professional expertise to better serve our clients. Her commitment to providing the highest quality care is what led to her recent promotion to Quality Control Speech Therapist. She has been shining in this leadership role, and we can’t wait to see how she will continue to grow with this new achievement!