SOMA : schedule for oral motor assessment

In recent years there has been increasing recognition of the range and prevalence of feeding disorders during infancy and the significance of such difficulties for the infant and the caregiver.

However, there are almost no objective methods for rating oral motor skills in infancy.

In response to the need for a reliable and valid assessment tool, the Schedule for Oral Motor Assessment (SOMA) was designed.

SOMA was developed and validated on a large sample of normally developing infants as well as infants with clinically significant oral motor dysfunction.

SOMA is simple to administer and quick to score, and can be used in the clinic, nursery, school or the child's home.

It entails the presentation of a range of tastes and textures to the infant in order to elicit a full range of each oral motor challenge category, ranging from liquid through to chewable solids.

Specific oral motor behaviors are rated for each oral motor challenge category.

Responses are totaled to obtain a score for each category, enabling the speech and language therapist to distinguish, for the first time, those infants with normal oral motor function from those with oral motor dysfunction.