Feeding Therapy
Our speech and occupational therapists work on different aspects of feeding. Our goal is to develop age-appropriate feeding skills to ensure adequate nutrition for growth and development while also making mealtimes fun and enjoyable. Individualized treatment will be provided to meet the needs of each child. Therapists have attended a variety of specialized trainings including Sequential Oral Sensory (SOS) Approach to Feeding, AEIOU: An Integrated Approach to Pediatric Feeding, Beckman Oral Motor Program, and PESI: Pediatric Complex Feeding Issues.
Feeding therapy can help children:
- Chew their food
- Swallow safely
- Drink from a straw and a cup
- Use utensils
- Gain weight
- Try new foods
- Eat a variety of foods
- Enjoy eating and mealtimes
Pursue an evaluation if your child has difficulty with:
- Aversion to foods or food textures/groups
- Transitioning from pureed to table foods
- Mealtime behavior
- Self-feeding with utensils or hands
- Tolerating messy, sticky, or wet textures on hands and face
- Drinking from an open cup after 2.5 years
- Appropriate weight gain
- Sucking, swallowing or chewing
- Gagging, choking, coughing while eating (after swallow evaluation is completed)
- Has a diagnosis that involves muscle weaknesses (e.g. Down syndrome or cerebral palsy)
Feeding Team Highlights
- Multidisciplinary evaluation including speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists
- Strong focus on family involvement and generalization of skills into the home environment
- Therapists are trained in multiple oral motor and sensory feeding approaches
- Individualized program developed and treatment based on child’s needs
- Caregiver and family education
Monday-Thursday: