Low Muscle Tone in Jaw and Tongue

Did they use the terms "Dysphagia" or "Apraxia?"

These are, sometimes, a condition with affects a child's eating and/or speech.

Since your daughter is young, there are the "Early Childhood Intervention" organizations, which do overall developmental assessments and/or therapy if needed, for FREE.
They come to your home.
No Pediatrician referral is needed.
I don't know where your Therapist is from....
But my son got speech therapy from our local ECI.
His was for a speech delay. Not related to anything else.

Per your child, yes, it is always best to address it, sooner than later.
So yes, therapy is good.

My son has low tone all over including his mouth. Yes it has delayed his speech for sure! I did not know he had the low tone in his mouth until they told me about the low tone all over, he did not have any eating issues. Speech therapy does help but boy does it take patience! Good luck!

It is wonderful that you have chosen to seek services while your daughter is still so young. I am a big proponent of early intervention, and as far as I am concerned, the earlier you begin, the better!

Depending on your financial status, Early Intervention may not be free. You may have to pay a co-pay. However, the state is mandated to provide the services by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part C.

In Illinois, you can contact Child and Family Connections. They have offices across the state, and I believe that there is one in Crystal Lake.
Here is the website

http://www.childandfamilyconnections.org/

I have found that early intervention experiences vary greatly depending on your service coordinator and your therapists.

If you prefer not to go through the state, and you have your own health insurance that will cover the services, by all means, go with the therapist that you like!

Early Interventions is NOT free. We have $400 in invoices from EI, for 4 months of service, right now, and we have only had the services of Early Interventions therapists for four months. My husband lost his job early in June, and we will have to make payments to pay this off. EI told us before we started, that we would pay as little as $30/month. Our first EI therapist helped very little with our 28 month old son's Dysphagia. For four weeks, she kept scheduling to come, and cancelling. The second therapist was much better. Our insurance UHC, would not pay a dime toward the Early Interventions unless it is conducted in a hospital. Be sure you know the cost before having EI (their therapists and not in-network with any health insurance). Before we started EI, our son had several sessions at Childrens' Memorial (she was excellent!), and our health insurance paid all but $65 per month. Our son will be three tomorrow, and he is starting to chew and his language skills are beginning to develope normally.

My son has sensory processing disorder, specifically with oral sensitivity and low muscle tone in his jaw coupled with a high gag reflex. In his case it effects eating but not speech. It was not discovered until he was 5. His occupational therapist is wonderful and he has progressed by leaps and bounds. He has been able to eat progressively crunchier and crispier foods. His OT gives him food "homework" to work on. I would think in your case they would be able to give you guidance in terms of food or exercises that would help.

My kiddo has low tone all over, including his jaw and tongue (also a mild case). Fortunately for us/him, it didn't impact his ability to chew and swallow, but it has significantly delayed his speech. We've been working with a speech therapist for over a year and he's making good progress. I definitely recommend seeking a speech therapist who can work with feeding issues and down the road help with speech, if that becomes an issue.

I had my dd do some speech therapy at age 3 just because they lumped it in with a bunch of other therapy she was getting. One of the most interesting things they did with her was use straws and have her drink from them, she started with a big milkshake straw and then they got thinner and thinner. She enjoyed "playign" with the speech lady and ours was through Early interevention too and was free with them coming to our house.

so while i can't help with your specific problem, i can offer you support and sympathy as a mom whose kiddo needed a little extra help. I"m sure they'll be able to get your little one right where she needs to be.