Children's Feeding and Swallowing Program

Purpose

The Beaumont Center for Children's Rehabilitation program has several Speech-Language Pathologists and Occupational Therapists who have specialized skills in working with children who are overcoming feeding and swallowing difficulties. Our goal is to promote positive, safe, healthy, independent and optimal feeding and swallowing patterns in children that can be maintained by caregivers in the home.

Service Overview

The Speech-Language Pathologists and Occupational Therapists provide comprehensive evaluations, consultations, one-on-one treatments and parent education to promote acquisition of sensory-motor skills necessary for successful eating and/or swallowing. Treatment may include several service delivery models, such as neuromuscular treatment for body strengthening and optimal positioning. Sensory-motor treatment enhances arousal, sensory awareness and addresses any sensory defensiveness concerns. Oral-motor treatment impacts quality and coordination of jaw, lips and tongue movements for management of different food textures and liquids.

Occupational Therapists provide adaptive equipment as necessary to obtain the most optimal level of independence. Speech-Language Pathologists focus on successful transit of food through the oral cavity. Both clinicians focus on the sensory-motor skills necessary for eating safely. Family training is essential for successful results. The therapists also have frequent communication with the referring physician for cohesiveness of programming. The Occupational

Therapist and Speech-Language Pathologist will collaborate and may initiate interdisciplinary programming with dietary, social work and behavioral psychology, as required, based upon each child's individualized program.

Groups

We offer three feeding groups, generally during the summer months. For our younger children we offer Little Munchers, and for our older children, Big Crunchers. We also offer a year-round program called Sequential Sensory/Motor Approach to Feeding (SOS). In these groups, we utilize peer interaction to facilitate improved eating skills.

This program assists with

• Dysphagia (swallowing deficit as a result of a neurological disorder)
• Bottle feeding
• Oral-motor management
• Disruptive mealtime behaviors due to sensory-motor issues
• Transitioning off the bottle
• Self-feeding
• Decreasing meal time
• Transitioning to solids
• Picky eaters

Benefits

• Our outcome measures for selffeeding indicate that there is significant improvement following therapy for most of our patients
• Patients often achieve increased oral intake
• Increase weight gain
• Reduce or eliminate reliance on tube feeding
• Less gagging and vomiting with meals
• Decrease in disruptive mealtime behaviors
• Enhance independence
• More variety in food intake, resulting in improved health