Three days for the pediatric occupational therapy practitioner who keeps noticing the mouth.
For three days this summer in Chicago, a small cohort of pediatric occupational therapy practitioners sits beside speech-language pathologists, dental hygienists, and the founding faculty — and learns the orofacial myofunctional curriculum that's quietly been running between offices for years.
You'll leave Sunday afternoon with airway, regulation, and oral-motor work woven into how you already practice.
Register your seat
The observation
Kelly and Molly already share an office. They co-treat the same children, in the same hour, and trade notes over the same coffee.
The question
So why does the rest of the field still treat OT and SLP as separate appointments on a parent's calendar?
Overview
Where the orofacial meets the airway, the nervous system, and the team around the patient.
Over three days, you'll be trained in the three Simon Says OMT programs — Tongue Tips for ages 8 and up, Tiny Tongue Tips for early intervention, and Thumbs Up!, a 30-day oral habit elimination program — and walked through how each fits inside an Occupational Therapist scope of practice.
This year's cohort is intentionally interdisciplinary. SLPs, Occupational Therapist, and a registered dental hygienist sit in the same room, with sessions designed to clarify each profession's lane and the places they overlap. You leave with assessment tools, treatment frameworks, and a working understanding of how the Occupational Therapist lens — sensory, postural, autonomic — combines with what the SLP and the dental chair already see.
What you'll be able to do by Sunday afternoon.
Identify airway-related signs of orofacial myofunctional disorders within an OT scope of practice.
Describe the relationship between breathing patterns, autonomic nervous system regulation, and emotional regulation.
Describe how OT frameworks (sensory, postural, autonomic) inform the assessment of patients with myofunctional disorders.
Define the OT's role within an interdisciplinary myofunctional care team alongside SLPs, RDHs, ENT, orthodontics, and dentistry.
Identify the distinct roles of SLP and OT (and areas of overlap) in evaluating and treating orofacial myofunctional disorders.
Describe collaborative SLP+OT co-treatment strategies for pediatric cases involving mouth breathing, picky eating, and emotional dysregulation.
Recognize the orofacial findings observable in the dental chair (low tongue posture, mouth breathing, palatal narrowing, scalloped tongue) that signal possible myofunctional disorders and warrant OT or SLP collaboration.
Describe how addressing orofacial myofunctional disorders can support a child's engagement in occupations such as feeding, sleep, school participation, and social interaction.
Three days, one shared patient lens.
Sessions marked OT-built are expanded interdisciplinary programming designed specifically for occupational therapy practitioners.
Day 01July 31Identifying myofunctional disorders.+
Day 02August 1The Simon Says programs, hands on.+
Day 03August 2Programs, collaboration, and your own practice.+
Lunch breaks are scheduled but do not count toward CE contact hours. Business Development and Simple Practice sessions are not eligible for CE contact hours.
WHO WE ARE
Trained clinicians, each in their lane, teaching together.
Jennifer Triandafilou
MA, CCC-SLP · Founder & Clinical Lead
Founder of Simon Says Speech and the Simon Says Myo Institute. Twenty-eight years of clinical SLP practice and more than a thousand practitioners trained through the Tongue Tips, Tiny Tongue Tips, and Thumbs Up! courses. Lead instructor for the foundational sessions and the final clinical authority for the conference.
Kelly Carino
MS, OTR/L · OT Subject-Matter Expert
Owner of mOTivated Kids in Collingswood, NJ. University at Buffalo MS OT, 2010, with fifteen-plus years of pediatric OT experience specializing in sensory processing, self-regulation, feeding, and executive function. Lead instructor for the OT-built session on airway, regulation, and occupational therapy's role in interdisciplinary myofunctional care.
Molly Cervini
MS, CCC-SLP · Interdisciplinary Co-Faculty
Owner of Eat Play Learn in Collingswood, NJ. Loyola University MS, 2009, with thirteen-plus years of pediatric SLP experience treating orofacial myofunctional disorders. Co-faculty alongside Kelly Carino for the case-based collaborative SLP + OT session on Day Three.
Lauren Smith Kennedy
RDH, BS, OMT · Guest Faculty
Owner and lead clinician at The Myo Coach. Registered dental hygienist with twenty-plus years of clinical experience, MyoMentor-trained in orofacial myofunctional therapy, and a Certified Airway Hygienist. Teaches the Day One RDH Bridge session on what the dental chair reveals about airway, structure, and myofunctional.
Credit written into the curriculum from day one.
Introductory level. Attendees receive a Certificate of Completion upon full attendance and successful completion of the post-conference requirements.
This PD activity is provided as a co-sponsorship event with Aspire OT, an AOTA Approved Sponsor.
info@AspireOT.us
www.AspireOTed.com
Aspire OT is an AOTA Approved Provider of professional development and an AOTA APP Approved Sponsor. Co-sponsor PD activity approval ID# 16328. This Live Workshop is offered at 1.7 CEUs (Introductory level, Occupational Therapy Service Delivery, Professional Issues, Foundational Knowledge)
The assignment of AOTA CEUs does not imply endorsement of specific course content, products, or clinical procedures by AOTA.
What you get when you register.
Cohorts are kept small on purpose.If you're a pediatric occupational therapy practitioner who takes airway and regulation as seriously as we do, this is the room.
- Three-day live OT training track17 contact hours · Radisson Blu Aqua, Chicago
- All three Simon Says OMT program trainingsTongue Tips · Tiny Tongue Tips · Thumbs Up!
- 1.7 AOTA Approved CEUs
- Certificate of Completion
- Printed program, evaluation & assessment tools
- Continental breakfast + reserved conference room block
Details & continuing education
Faculty Disclosures
Pre-requisites
None. Introductory level. Open to licensed occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants (OTs & OTAs); no prior orofacial myofunctional therapy training required.
Cancellation & Refund
Written cancellations more than 30 days before the conference receive a full refund less a $75 administrative fee. Within 30 days, a 50% refund. No refunds within 7 days. If Simon Says cancels, registrants receive a full refund.
Accessibility & Accommodations
The Radisson Blu Aqua provides ADA-compliant accommodations. Submit accessibility requests in writing to support@simonsaysspeech.com at least 10 business days before the conference. Late requests accommodated to the extent reasonably practicable.
Concerns & Feedback
Grievances may be submitted in writing to support@simonsaysspeech.com, reviewed per the Simon Says Policies and Procedures Manual and acknowledged within 5 business days.
Simon Says Speech / Simon Says Myo Institute · simonsaysspeech.com · support@simonsaysspeech.com
One Patient, Two Perspectives: A Collaborative Approach to Function, Airway, and Health — OT/SLP Track · Chicago, IL · July 31 – August 2, 2026. | Privacy Policy · Terms & Conditions
