OMT in Pediatric Airway & Sleep-Disordered Breathing

Learn to recognize, assess, and treat the pediatric airway patient through the lens of orofacial myofunctional therapy.

Instructor
Kristie Gatto, MA, CCC-SLP, Certified Orofacial Myologist, #162

Prerequisites: Basic anatomy of the orofacial system; clinical experience with pediatric populations preferred

Children with sleep-disordered breathing often present long before a diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea.

Mouth breathing, low tongue posture, poor lip seal, non-nutritive sucking habits, altered craniofacial growth, and dysfunctional oral habits can all influence airway development, behavior, sleep quality, feeding, and long-term health.

Many clinicians recognize these patterns.

Far fewer know how to bring them together into a structured clinical approach.

This course was developed to bridge pediatric sleep medicine and orofacial myofunctional therapy, giving clinicians an evidence-based framework for evaluating pediatric airway dysfunction, designing treatment plans, collaborating with interdisciplinary providers, and improving long-term patient outcomes.

Designed for clinicians treating pediatric airway disorders

Whether you work in speech pathology, dentistry, occupational therapy, physical therapy, medicine, or another pediatric specialty, you'll learn how airway function influences craniofacial growth and how OMT can become an important part of comprehensive care.

This course is appropriate for:

Speech Language Pathologists
Pediatric Dentists
Registered Dental Hygienists
Orthodontists
Occupational Therapists
Physical Therapists
Physicians
Pediatric Sleep Medicine providers
ENT care teams
Clinicians interested in pediatric airway development

What You'll Learn:

By the end of this course you'll be able to:

Differentiate the pediatric sleep-disordered breathing spectrum from primary snoring through obstructive sleep apnea.
Recognize clinical signs of mouth breathing, low tongue posture, poor lip competence, and altered craniofacial growth.
Perform comprehensive pediatric orofacial myofunctional assessments.
Determine when children are appropriate candidates for OMT.
Build age-appropriate treatment programs for toddlers, school-aged children, and adolescents.
Create engaging home exercise programs that improve compliance.
Monitor functional outcomes using validated pediatric measures.
Work collaboratively with pediatric dentists, ENTs, orthodontists, physicians, and other members of the airway team.
Educate families using practical, evidence-based recommendations.
Understand when referral is indicated and where OMT fits within interdisciplinary care.

Course Curriculum

Module 1

Pediatric Sleep-Disordered Breathing

Understand the spectrum of pediatric airway disorders, current screening tools, and how untreated sleep-disordered breathing influences growth, behavior, learning, and overall development.

Module 2

Craniofacial Growth, Mouth Breathing & Low Tongue Posture

Learn how oral posture influences facial development, identify critical periods of growth, and understand how airway dysfunction affects skeletal development.

Module 3

Pediatric OMT Assessment

Develop a systematic pediatric evaluation process including airway screening, oral habit assessment, tongue posture, swallowing, lip seal, tonsil grading, and standardized documentation.

Module4

Exercise Design for Children

Build structured pediatric treatment programs using age-appropriate exercises, developmental progressions, play-based activities, and post-frenectomy rehabilitation strategies.

Module 5

Measuring Clinical Outcomes

Track treatment progress using validated outcome measures while documenting meaningful functional change throughout therapy.

Module 6

Interdisciplinary Airway Care

Improve communication with pediatric dentists, orthodontists, ENTs, physicians, and other providers while developing collaborative treatment pathways.

Module 7

Parent Education & Long-Term Success

Learn practical strategies that improve caregiver participation, increase home program adherence, reduce relapse, and support long-term maintenance.

Module 8

Trauma-Informed Neuromyofunctional Intervention

Explore the relationship between neural control, craniofacial development, autonomic regulation, and trauma-informed treatment sequencing within pediatric OMT.

This Course Includes

Approximately 10 hours of continuing education
Eight comprehensive learning modules
Downloadable clinical forms
Pediatric assessment templates
Treatment protocols
Family education resources
Age-specific exercise demonstrations
Pediatric case studies
Module quizzes
Final examination
Certificate of completion upon successful course completion
Six months of course access

Evidence-Based Clinical Education

This course integrates current literature from pediatric sleep medicine, craniofacial development, and orofacial myofunctional therapy into practical clinical application.

Rather than focusing only on exercises, you'll learn why they work, when they're appropriate, how to sequence intervention, and how to measure meaningful change over time.

Who This Course Is For

This course is ideal for clinicians who want to:

Expand their understanding of pediatric airway dysfunction.
Incorporate evidence-based OMT into clinical practice.
Improve interdisciplinary communication.
Better identify appropriate referrals.
Build structured treatment plans for pediatric patients.
Understand the relationship between airway development and craniofacial growth.
Strengthen clinical reasoning beyond individual exercises.

Continuing Education

Participants who complete all required coursework and achieve the minimum passing score will receive a certificate of completion. Continuing education credit applications are in process.