Student that drools profusely.?

Question

I am a preschool teacher. I am currently in my fourth year of teaching. This year I have a student who is four years old and is constantly drooling. Not just a little bit. But the spit literally pores out of his mouth. He is very immature. In fact he barely qualified to be in prek. However, he is quite smart in some areas. He can recognize all his letters and most of the sounds. But his fine motor skills are way behind. He also has a lot of bathroom accidents. Alot of this I realize is because of his immaturaty. But the drooling is really getting to me. I don't know what to do. Should I say something to his parents? Is there something wrong with him? I thought being about to control your spit came as a toddler. Any suggestions

Answer 1

Drooling is usually related to muscle control in the mouth and can be related to speech difficulties.  I've never gotten anyone to try it but I think these children would benefit from gum chewing (not at school) because moving the gum around would exercise the mouth muscles.  The gum would also cause more saliva and the chewing would encourage swallowing.  Just a thought.

You can't really stop the drooling but you can help the child gain control over it.

Tell him the spit is coming out of his mouth and ask him to suck it back in.  Do this once or twice and then switch to a signal.  I usually say the child's name softly and then make a sucking sound.  Do this for a couple of days and then switch to a hand signal.  When you see the spit coming out make eye-contact with him, then tap your chin and make the sucking sound.  Do this a couple of times and then switch to just the hand signal.

Once the child starts recognizing the hand signal teach it to the parents.  They will probably appreciate it and the consistency will be most helpful.

Answer 2

The child has fine motor issues  with his mouth and possibly hands also.  How is the child's speech?  This should definitely be addressed.  There are many ways to strengthen the mouth and lessen the drooling.  

Activities that include blowing bubbles, straw activities that include blowing cotton balls across a table to race (this could be a little messy with his condition but it will help), kiss paintings (putting a substance like chocolate sauce on lips and kissing paper), having him repeat phrases from "mr. brown can moo" by doctor Seuss and other oral motor activities will help him.  

The child should probably be evaluated by a speech and language pathologist and an occupational therapist.

Answer 3

How is the child's speech?  Does this child currently receive any services for speech and fine motor (since you said he was behind in this area).  It may be necessary to have this child evaluated for services in these two areas if there are concerns.  I work in Early Childhood Special Education and I have seen children with excessive drooling that have poor oral motor skills and speech problems.  They don't always happen together, but sometimes they do.  I would recommend you speak with your supervisor and express your concerns and see what she/he feels the best approach may be.

Answer 4

You already have some great answers. I would have a conference with the parents to ask what they do when they notice the child drooling and how they are handling the bathroom accidents. That way you are asking for ideas. Also can you talk with your director about it before the conference.

Answer 5

Sounds as if there is a developmental disability at work here...  Yes, drool control is something that children typically have under control at this age.  This is also an indicator of the other things you mentioned... lack of fine motor skills, immaturity, and incontinence all are indicators to me that something beyond immaturity is going on with this little guy.  As hard as it may be, you need to talk to the parents about your concerns with him.  You want to provide the best care you can for him, as well as meet his needs (otherwise, it wouldn't have occurred to you to ask this question), so you need to have a talk with the parents to find out things you may not  be aware of.  Often, parents of children with disabilities are reluctant to say anything to teachers for fear that their child will be rejected based on their disability.  I guarantee they know that a four year old should have their drool under control- especially if the child has any other siblings.  You need to voice your concerns with the parent and find out factors that may influence the way this child learns in order to best help him achieve his future goals.  There may have been birth factors that are influencing his development.  As far as working on drool control in the classroom, when you see him beginning to drool, call his name, and say, "close your mouth and swallow".  He may need this verbal trigger for a while, until he can think about it on his own.

Answer 6

This child may have a learning diffuculty or devolpment delay however I would seek a professional oppinoun from a school nurse or doctor.

Some people with Learning Difficulites can ironically enough have a really high intellence or IQ level.

Answer 7

The first thing to recommend the parents is a visit to the pediatrician.  They will probably then refer the student to an ENT or Speech Pathologist.  ENT is probably better.  They will check for obstruction of the airway (tonsils sometimes) and check or other abnormalities.  I'm told hearing infections can also cause this in some roundabout way.  

The social immaturity is generally a separate issue unless you think its the result of anxiety exaggerated by the fact they have the drooling issue.  

Best wishes