Emily is a 10-month-old child who is not feeding herself with her hands. She drinks from a bottle, and she takes smooth pureed food using a suckle pattern. She bangs and plays with a spoon, but does not attempt to feed herself with the spoon. She does not hold her own bottle. She gags when she is offered crackers, cookies and lumpy foods. She does not have vomiting, recurrent respiratory infections or problems choking on her bottle. Which statement best describes Emily’s oral-motor skills?

Emily has delayed oral-motor skills

Explanation:

Emily doesn't feed herself and cannot even hold her water bottle, but she bangs and play with a spoon.

The action of paying and banging with a spoon signifies that she does have motor skills, but they are not fully developed to the point which she can consciously hold her water bottle to feed.

Furthermore, the fact that Emily gags when offered crackers proves that she doesn't like crackers and cannot express her disinterest in a coherent oral form because gagging is a muffled oral expression that signifies her oral skill are not fully developed.