Feeding Therapy

Speech and Occupational Therapists at Ducktails excel in providing feeding services to our patients. Our therapists are trained to target specific difficulties with eating, from pickiness when it comes to food taste/textures or physical limitations, like difficulty chewing or swallowing. Additionally, Ducktails has the only pediatric trained speech therapist in the CSRA to offer vital stim for feeding difficulties related to dysphagia. Vital Stim is an FDA approved therapy for feeding issues. This treatment uses non-invasive external electrical stimulation therapy that re-educates the throat muscles needed for swallowing.

Some warning signs of feeding difficulty include but are not limited to:

babies

• Coughing or choking during feeding

• Problems coordinating sucking, swallowing and breathing

• Extended periods required for feeding

• Difficulty noted with trying purees and baby foods

• Turning the head away or refusing to open the mouth during feeding

• Frequent episodes of coughing or gagging during mealtime

• Low weight or losing weight due to refusal to eat

children over 1 year of age:

• Avoiding foods with certain textures or entire food groups

• A very restricted diet