How will a speech-language pathologist diagnose and help my child with a feeding difficulty?

Children who are recommended for feeding therapy usually have difficulty consuming enough calories to adequately sustain nutrition. Some children, especially those with more complex feeding disorders, may choke, gag, cough, or vomit before, during or after eating. Food and liquid refusals are common. Children with feeding disorders are treated using various approaches.

Can you give an example of a feeding therapy approach?

One key therapy approach utilized by Bear Tracks Pediatric Therapies for sensory-based feeding disorders is the Sequential Oral-Sensory (SOS) Approach, which was developed by Dr. Kay Toomey. Our goal is to address medical, behavioral, oral-motor and sensory aspects of feeding which may be disrupting your child’s ability to eat normally and to gain weight.

Visual supports and behavior management aids are often used in conjunction with the SOS approach for children with Autism and others who benefit from visual, positive reinforcement.

Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) Disorder

CAS refers to a speech disorder that presents as disrupted speech motor control. In this disorder, there is no weakness, paralysis or paresis of the speech mechanism. A speech-language pathologist who is trained and experienced with CAS can diagnose and treat children with this speech motor programming/planning deficit. One treatment for CAS we employ is the Kaufman Speech to Language protocol, which is a speech-motor programming skill for pediatric patients.