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.
Tone means the amount of tension in the muscles.
Hyper- means too much When the body is hypertonic, it is harder to control the movements of the jaw, tongue, lips, and cheeks for feeding. These become more uncontrolled as the body gets stiff. The body is floppy or hypotonic. Tone means the amount of tension in the muscles. Hypo- means too little.