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The skills needed to speak and to be nourished are as complex as any other. This clinic is designed for children with moderate-severe oral-motor or feeding problems. Children who attend our therapies, as well as the therapies of other clinics, are welcome to schedule appointments as needed. We will work with your private, home, and/or school team to create an effective intervention plan. Some children present with oral aversion, also known as oral tactile defensiveness. As infants, they may refuse to nurse or nurse only briefly. They may refuse a pacifier and do not mouth toys.
Later, they may have difficulty transitioning from purees to finger foods. When they do tolerate solid food, the preferred texture is often "crunchy." Examples include: crackers, toast, biscuits/cookies, chips, pretzels, and cheerios. Children with oral aversion often gag on other textures such as rice, potatoes, fruit, vegetables, and meats. These children tend to be described as "picky eaters," but actually the problem is likely due to oral hypersensitivity resulting in a feeding disorder.
Some children under-register tactile, kinesthetic, and proprioceptive information. These children are thus less aware of the positioning of their lips, tongue, teeth, cheeks, and alveolar ridge as they begin to eat or talk. The articulatory targets and the movement of each articulator is less salient to the child. As a result, articulation of consonants and vowels may develop late and/or be disordered. Feeding may also be disordered as it is more difficult for the child to form a bolus and transit it through the oral cavity.
Other related oral/feeding problems include: constant mouthing, the need to wander while eating, self-injury in the oral area, low caloric intake, reflux, aspiration, laryngeal penetration, etc. When these problems are life-threatening, children are placed on Nasogastric tubes (N-G tubes) or Gastric tubes (G-tubes), or J-pegs.
Other related speech problems include: difficulty motor-planning speech (dyspraxia), phonological processing problems, and articulation disorder/delay.
The Oral-motor, Speech, and Feeding clinic is designed for expert, multi-disciplinary support and problem-solving for such issues. The clinic is available by appointment only, and a multidisciplinary team will be assembled as needed. A Speech Pathologist, an Occupational Therapist, a Behavioral Consultant, and a Nutritionist, are often part of the team.
If your child is experiencing non-traditional speech or feeding issues, we highly recommend this clinic. The focus will be multidisciplinary problem-solving to design a strategic home and/or clinic program, along with a schedule for follow-up. |
