Feeding & Swallowing Disorders in Children
Feeding Therapy
Trouble eating can lead to health, learning, and social problems. Our feeding therapists can help children with feeding & swallowing problems.
Trouble eating can lead to health, learning, and social problems. Our feeding therapists can help children with feeding & swallowing problems.
● Behavioral challenges
● Sensory sensitivities, such as avoiding certain food textures
● Food refusal or selectivity
● Motor challenges that affect chewing, swallowing, and self-feeding
● Delayed oral motor and self-feeding skills
● Poor nutritional intake
● Vomiting
● Sensory sensitivities and food aversion
● Swallowing difficulties
● Longer than usual mealtimes
● Motor challenges that affect positioning, oral motor skills, and self-feeding
● Vomiting and/or gagging
● Poor nutritional intake
● Food refusal or selectivity
● Negative associations with eating due to discomfort
● Food refusal or selectivity
Seattle Therapy: Skills for Life
Participation in mealtime is one of the most important daily activities for all people, including infants, children, and adolescents. Many children love mealtime and look forward to their favorite snack or food.
However, when participating in mealtime is difficult for a child, it makes mealtime hard for everyone!
Challenges in the area of mealtime participation can include a limited or restricted food repertoire, difficulty sitting still and attending to eating, difficulty chewing foods and negotiating foods orally for breakdown and swallowing, and challenges with utensil use or cup drinking.
Difficulties in one or more of these areas can make participating in daily meal and snack times a challenge at home, at school, and in the community.
In order to begin to assess a child’s participation in mealtime and further examine their feeding skills the following steps are taken:
Step 1
Step 2
Appointment will be conducted in the clinic which includes assessment by both occupational therapy and speech therapist. This assessment of mealtime participation skills includes further examination of:
Step 3
Working with the family and client to increase mealtime opportunities to 4-5 times daily
Opportunities for daily practice of oral motor and/or sensory based feeding techniques worked into daily mealtime routines.
Goals made around length of time at the table if applicable.
Seating accommodations are made and in place at home and at school if needed.
Connect with a nutritionist or with the child’s physician regarding any concerns regarding caloric intake especially if the child is eating very little.
Consult with physician regarding any other medical concerns (ie. Constipation, frequent stomach upset, etc).
School visit conducted during lunchtime if applicable.
Formal treatment sessions 2 times weekly conducted in clinic, in home, in school, or a combination of environments. Home visits are recommended to help with generalization of skills if treatment is not taking place there.
Once skills begin to increase and a trusting relationship is established the goal is to work on increasing foods that are present at each meal to match sensory and oral level.
Have at least 5 foods present at each meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and 3 foods at snack. There should be at least one food available at each meal that the child has shown they can successfully eat.
Goals are to increase time at the table and # of foods the child can tolerate and move up the oral and/or sensory ladder.
Treatment sessions occur at a frequency of 1-2 times per week and are happening at home, school, or in clinic. Combination of environments for intervention is recommended depending on the child’s age and where they need to eat.
The key here is to keep things dynamic in terms of types of foods presented and environments where we eat if that matches what is required of the child in their daily life, this supports the child’s ability to generalize their mealtime skills across people and environments.
Expand skills and develop independence in all aspects of the mealtime process.
Develop up and clean up routines, utensil use, cup use, scooping, and pouring.
Address additional skills needed for eating in the community including restaurants.
If the child is old enough more cooking can be incorporated here.
Goal is to really increase independence in the entire mealtime process.
This may include a decrease in frequency of treatment (moving to just once per week or twice per month).
Also may include moving treatment sessions out of home or clinic and into school or restaurant.
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We hold the belief that hope begins with feeling understood.
That belief fuels a family-centered therapy process that identifies the specific needs of each child, and tailors a therapy plan that celebrates that child’s successes and acts as a
catalyst for his/her growth.
Understanding an individual’s specific abilities allows us to maximize his/her potential, rather than manage limitations.
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