Jaw and Teeth = Breathing and Speaking

Photos and instructions

When children begin to have sleep apnea or speech problems, parents usually begin searching for the problem, but it is quite easy to identify much earlier in life.

Once rare, these problems are now common. This does not mean that they are a healthy normal. Let’s start working on fixing them!

Many parents begin working with us on speech problems for their children, only to discover that they themselves also have the same jawline and breathing issues! As you think about your child here, remember to think about yourself, too. You are young enough to improve your bone density and health at any age!

Here are images and ages from Dr. Montessori’s own work:

Do you see how the bones around the children’s eyes are well-formed? There is no white showing around the eyeball, so the eye itself is well-supported. I have seen a number of young people with specific vision problems due to this issue.

Steps:

1. Move to a nutrient-dense diet with no wasted stomach space on poor foods

   • The Dental Diet by Dr. Steven Lin is available in the library app in the US.

   • The Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby & Child Care - Kindle edition by Sally Fallon Morell contains excellent advice and recipes. It also has her baby formula recipe — you can drink it at any age with great benefit.

2. Start the exercises in the chart in my post here.

3. If you consult a doctor, make sure it is a pediatric specialist. Beware of misdiagnoses, however. But please do take the steps above now. Better nutrients and exercise never hurt anyone.

4. Begin vocal exercises. Proper posture and breathing with singing were one of Dr. Montessori’s original directives. I always recommend my own online coach, Cheryl Porter (the Italian voice in the Lion King movie for “The Circle of Life”).

When you see a specialist, you are not obliged to mention prior (mis) diagnoses, btw. Tell them you wanted to come “straight to the best medical expert.” Doctors are not inclined to critique each other’s work.

Regarding vocal exercises, speech therapists focus on teaching children how to make correct sounds with their CROOKED teeth and cramped mouths. I find this horrific. Vocal exercises work on everything that a singer needs to function well: Posture, breathing, and use of the mouth and vocal cords. This is much more than speech therapy. Plus, children learn a skill, they can see other children singing on Cheryl’s YouTube channel. It is not the soul-sucking experience of “therapy” — I have seen so many children’s zest for life and self-esteem really diminish during speech therapy because they feel stupid for not being able to talk properly. Vocal exercises, on the other hand, provide children with the skill of singing preparation and singing. Also, singers do many strange things to exercise and improve their mouths, children will love seeing professionals do all these strange things that they themselves need to do.

Explain to your child that you yourself (the mother) didn’t have proper nutrition as a child (likely), so they need extra nutrition plus exercise to help them grow. Once they grow, their teeth and jaws will develop so that they can speak well. In the meantime, they can practice some temporary strategies. Help them make the sounds they cannot by showing them different ways to align their teeth to make the sounds. If their jaws are really cramped, they just won’t be able to do it, however. Do not let them feel bad. Instead, they should concentrate on the points above.

If you have had misdiagnoses, it would be lovely if you wanted to share them in comments. Health professionals say so many odd things to parents, it is really quite alarming. If I had a dollar for every student who was “diagnosed” with some mental issue regarding speaking problems, I’d have quite a pile of dollars here by my desk.