What are adenoids and how do they impact my child?

Adenoids & Children

Adenoids can be amazing! These lymphatic tissues, located at the back of the nasal passage, play a vital role in the immune system by helping the body combat infections and germs. However, excessively enlarged adenoids can pose significant challenges. When they grow too large, they can obstruct the airway, making nasal breathing difficult. This can impact facial development, speech, and feeding skills. An obstructed airway may also lead to harmful oral habits, such as thumb or finger sucking.

What Does This Have to Do with Speech Therapy? 

Speech therapists with training in orofacial myology are skilled at identifying signs of enlarged adenoids or persistent maladaptive breathing patterns. These airway issues are often at the core of the speech and feeding challenges children experience. By targeting the root cause, therapy provides patients with lasting relief from speech and feeding difficulties they may have thought were insurmountable.

My Adenoids Story:

From the start, my daughter faced challenges with feeding—she often choked and struggled to maintain a latch. She was frequently sick, loved sucking her thumb, and primarily breathed through her mouth. As she grew, these red flags continued, giving me the confirmation I needed to schedule a visit with an ENT.

The ENT confirmed my suspicions, her adenoids were severely enlarged and completely blocking her airway. After surgery, the transformation was incredible—my daughter quickly became a happier, healthier version of herself. Now, we’re focusing on developing a nasal breathing pattern to support proper facial development, which is key for clear speech and effortless eating.

I am so grateful for my knowledge of airway health. It has allowed me to positively impact the lives of so many patients—and most importantly, it gave me the tools to help my own daughter thrive.

What You Can Do:

If your child is struggling with speech or feeding difficulties, reach out to Green Light. We will uncover the root cause of their problem and collaborate with the family to solve the issue once and for all.

Why is "R" so hard!?

R is a hard sound for several reasons:

One: The R sound is very sensitive. If the lips and or tongue are slightly out of place, or if your tongue is in the RIGHT place but not tense, your communication partners will hear it. 

Two: The location of the tongue cannot be seen. Meaning, those learning how to say R need to rely on verbal explanations and visual models, often made out of play dough, to figure out where to place their tongue.

Three: The R sound is influenced by the other sounds around it. The tongue and lip movements needed to achieve the R sound change depending on what letters the R sound is next to or where the R sound is in a word. 

Unfortunately, listeners are very sensitive to the R sound. Those that cannot correctly say their R sounds are often asked to repeat themselves and or are accused of having an accent. Difficulty with the R sound can even prevent people from being understood entirely!

Speech therapy is the best way to fix that tough R sound. In speech therapy at Green Light a mix of methods are used in conjunction with orofacial myofunctional techniques in order to straighten out that R sound once and for all.

If your child is struggling to correctly produce R, or if you have always had trouble with this sound, call Green Light to get help today. Let this be the last summer that R impacts your speech.