Developing good eating and drinking skills are necessary as a pre-requisite to developing clear speech.
Presenting difficulties
A baby or child may have difficulties with any of the following components of eating and drinking:-
- Sucking
- Swallowing
- Chewing
- Drinking
- Food aversion/fussy eater
If your child takes a very long time to feed, frequently coughs, cannot manage to chew solid foods at an appropriate age or spits food out rather than swallow, you can refer to a speech and language therapist.
The feeding difficulties will often be in addition to other diagnosed difficulties e.g cleft palate, cerebral palsy, developmental delay, an acquired brain injury, autistic spectrum condition.
Diagnosis
A diagnosis of eating and drinking difficulty will be made from observation, checklists, listening to your child’s swallow with a stethoscope and if necessary an x-ray of your child eating.
Intervention
The speech and language therapist works as a member of a team. Physiotherapy, occupational therapy, dietician, nursing, health visitor and medical advice may also be required to manage your child’s eating and drinking difficulty.
Treatment options include modifying your child’s food textures to ensure safe eating and drinking.
Activities and exercises can also be recommended to encourage particular muscle movements such as lip closure or side to side tongue movements.
Advice can also be given to help children who are very sensitive to certain textures, tastes and smells and are ‘fussy’ or ‘averse’.
Outcomes:
Safe eating and drinking.
Mature eating and drinking skills as far as possible for each child.