Feeding Therapy
Feeding therapy helps develop the oral motor skills used in breast and bottle feeding and improves food acceptance.
Pediatric Feeding Therapy
Feeding therapy improves and develops oral motor skills helping infants learn to breast and bottle feed. Feeding therapy also helps toddlers and adolescents learn to eat better for improved health and well-being.
Feeding therapy is led by a specially trained speech-language pathologist or an occupational therapist and is designed to target feeding deficits, including:
-
Difficulty sucking, chewing, and/or swallowing food or liquid
-
Refusal of entire food categories, brands, colors, or textures
-
Limited variety and quantity in diet, eats less than 20 food
-
Stress and anxiety at mealtimes and when new foods are introduced
Feeding disorders and difficulties often lead to nutritional deficiencies, minimal to no weight gain, poor nutrition and growth, and social and emotional distress.
Age-based warning signs help identify pediatric eating problems that may need treatment. Consult your child’s doctor about your concerns and the need for further evaluation.
Evaluations are typically prescribed by a pediatrician or other qualified medical professional and conducted by a speech-language pathologist or a licensed occupational therapist.
Benefits of pediatric feeding therapy
-
Expanded food choices for a well-balanced diet
-
Increased food quantity and quality for better nutrition
-
Reach and maintain age-appropriate weight and height
-
Increased confidence and self-esteem with peers and others within their community
Children learn to eat better with the correct feeding therapy program, leading to healthier lives and futures.
When kids struggle less with eating, mealtimes become more enjoyable for the entire family.
Feeding Therapy at Kids Can Do
At Kids Can Do Children’s Therapy Center, our whole-child approach to therapy begins with a comprehensive evaluation that includes information gathering, testing, and observation. After the evaluation is completed and it is determined that feeding therapy is needed, a customized feeding therapy plan of care is designed. The care plan is based on a child’s unique profile, personality, and family needs. We offer both individual and group feeding therapy sessions.
Kids Can Do uses a systematic, developmentally, and socially appropriate approach to feeding therapy. We actively involve family and other caregivers in a child’s treatment. Kids Can Do believes open communication and a coordinated plan of care results in faster progress and more successful outcomes.
Our pediatric feeding therapists
At Kids Can Do Children’s Therapy Center, therapy is administered by fully licensed pediatric speech-language pathologists or occupational therapists with advanced degrees, not therapy assistants. Our therapists are specially trained to identify and treat pediatric feeding disorders associated with tethered oral tissue (TOTs), oral motor skill deficiencies (OMD), sensory processing disorder (SPD), and other conditions. Kids Can Do’s rigorous therapist qualifications ensure accurate evaluation, on-going monitoring and fine-tuning of the therapy plan. Constantly evaluating the effectiveness of the feeding therapy plan is particularly important when treating the complex and evolving needs of children. Our therapists are always willing to explain the purpose and strategy of their therapy sessions, as well as provide supplemental activities for home. Working together for therapy that works.
Feeding therapy costs are often covered by insurance when prescribed by a physician or other qualified medical professional.