The way in which a person moves the body, makes a big difference in the way in which the mouth moves for communication or for eating.
Many children have developmental problems that affect the coordination of the body.
They also have problems that affect the coordination of the mouth for eating. We can call these movement patterns limiting patterns because they limit or make it more difficult for the child to move or eat in a normal way. It is vitally important to recognize tone and movement patterns of the body that influence movement patterns in the mouth. When we understand these body and mouth connections, we can reduce the severity of many feeding problems through changes in the physical environment. The body is stiff or hypertonic.