FEEDING DISORDERS

DEFINITION:

A pediatric feeding disorder is defined as the failure to eat adequately, gain weight and or food refusal.

SIGNS/SYMPTOMS:

	Difficulty chewing and/or swallowing specific textures of food (i.e. meats, vegetables, or mixed textures that are hard to chew or manipulate in the mouth)
	Overstuffs mouth with food and/or pockets it in cheeks
	Does not tolerate or refuses specific food temperatures, tastes or textures (i.e requests foods with a lot of texture or heightened flavor as opposed to mushy foods or prefers mushy foods and resists foods with mixed textures)
	Has a limited food repertoire-Also referred to as “picky eating” (i.e. only eats a couple of foods or foods of a certain color)
	Has a limited quantity of intake (i.e. eats very little throughout the day)
	Coughs, gags, chokes or vomits from food or liquids
	Has difficulty moving food around in the mouth (i.e. lets it rest on the center of the tongue)
	Eye-watering and/or turning the head away at the presentation of food
	Difficulty drinking from an open cup or straw or refuses these items
	Will not use utensils to eat or refuses to touch food
	History of gastrointestinal reflux
	Poor weight gain

EVALUATION:

An evaluation is warranted if your child has any of these “signs or symptoms”. We at PSLLC provide a comprehensive feeding evaluation, which includes a complete oral-motor examination to assess the structure and function of the lips, cheeks, tongue and jaw for eating and drinking, assessments to determine if feeding difficulties are related to sensory and/or behavioral components, or are mechanical in nature. We evaluate your child’s ability to tolerate, chew and swallow a variety of food textures, drink fluids though a cup, straw or bottle as appropriate and utilize feeding utensils.

THERAPY:

Based on the needs of your child, our mission at PSLLC is to offer a variety of quality feeding therapy services including:

	Behavioral Reinforcement Techniques
	Sensory-Based Feeding Strategies
	Feeding through the context of Play Therapy
	Oral-Motor Exercise Programs
	Treatment Planning on appropriate feeding patterns and utensil use.
	Positioning techniques for feeding

FAMILY/CAREGIVER TRAINING:

Our families at PSLLC are provided with ongoing feeding training, information, support and home exercise programs for carryover outside of therapy to enhance the success of the children we serve. Family/caregiver participation is very important part of the therapeutic process.

To schedule an appointment, contact us at:
phone (609) 924-7080 or e-mail info@psllcnj.com

Princeton Speech-Language & Learning Center,19 Wall Street, Princeton, NJ 08540, fax (609) 924-6563
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