Meal times should be happy times! Eating should be a pleasurable activity during which important emotional, social, and communicative foundations are established. For most infants and young children, eating and swallowing occurs with ease, with little conscious thought given to the process. However, for some children, eating is difficult, even frightening. What appears to be a simple process is actually complex. As more than 26 muscles and 7 cranial nerves are involved in eating and swallowing, multiple factors may play a role in your child’s eating and swallowing problems.

Our Multidisciplined Approach

With our specialized training in the identification and treatment of dysphagia, oral motor dysfunction, and sensory processing disorders, our expert team of Speech-Language Pathologists and Occupational Therapists provides a well–rounded sensory–motor approach to feeding therapy. After our comprehensive evaluation, therapeutic goals are carefully designed and tailored to meet the unique needs of your child. At SPS, we work closely with your child and you to address the multiple factors that contribute to mealtime difficulties.

Specially Designed

Our programming is designed specifically for infants, toddlers, and adolescents who have a variety of feeding and swallowing difficulties, including: dysphagia, failure–to–thrive, feeding tube dependency, oral-motor difficulties, food / oral aversion, inadequate use of utensils, and significant behavior problems during mealtime.

Treatment Protocols

Given our extensive experience and knowledge of leading medical research, your child’s treatment may include some of the following:

• Increasing volume of foods eaten
• Cup drinking
• Tolerating an oral diet
• Chewing Foods
• Self–Feeding
• Eating a variety of textures and tastes
• Gaining weight
• Managing or discontinuing tube feedings
• Regulating Sensory Processing
• Decreasing oral and facial hypersensitivities
• Decreasing avoidance and disruptive behaviors at mealtime
• Generalizing eating habits to home and community endeavors
• Improving vocal function due to GERD and LPR
• Increasing variety of foods eaten

We welcome the opportunity to discuss our programming with you. Please contact us at 404–459–9192 to schedule a meeting at your earliest convenience.