Pediatric Feeding Disorders

This course combines different types of feeding difficulties: structural-based, sensory-based, and experience- based feeding difficulties and creates a systematic approach for clinicians to address clients who have complex feeding concerns. Adopting an approach that accounts for individual differences and includes emotional support/counseling techniques/neurodiverse affirming care will create an influx of referrals due to the successfulness and parent support provided by this workshop. Clinicians involved in feeding therapy are called to examine various types of difficulties to provide caregiver support and evidence-based decision- making regarding treatment. This course will help you identify and improve referral process/treatment decision- making in relation to structural differences, sensory differences, and experience-based feeding differences. You will watch two frenectomies, discuss wound care afterward, and practice lingual, labial, and feeding exercises to share with your clients. After the course is complete, clinicians will have the competency to accept all types of feeding clients from birth- on.

The content of this program is germane to children, students and clients ages 0-18 (infants through childhood).

Highlights

• Effective assessment tools for identifying functional deficits of structural differences, muscle weakness, abnormal motor patterns, tongue thrust swallow patterns, and sensory-modulation for age-appropriate feedingdevelopment in infancy, toddlerhood, and throughout the childhood years
• Recommendations for emotional support to respect your client's individual differences, while guiding your clients through the next stage of feeding development
• Positive outcomes can be expected due to the overall improved understanding of various root causes of pediatric feeding difficulties with a systematic, evidence-based approach to evaluating and treating these disorders
• Immediately enhance your knowledge surrounding comprehensive feeding difficulties to support all clients with feeding difficulties
• Practical systematic approach to assessing andtreating multifaceted (structural/sensory/experience-based) functional deficits in relation to feeding difficulties by identifying underlying conditions, and co-morbidities you can use the next day
• Demonstration of lingual, labial, and feeding techniques to prepare for client demonstration

Target Audience: Occupational Therapists, Occupational Therapy Assistants, Speech-Language Pathologists