The Speech-Language Pathologists in the Feeding and Swallowing Program are highly trained and experienced in working with infants and children who have feeding and swallowing difficulties. Below is a list of some of the areas that we specialize in:
- Dysphagia, swallowing impairments, swallowing disorders
- Feeding difficulties
- Food aversion, oral aversion, food refusal, behavioral feeding issues
- Oral hypersensitivity, gagging
- Oral motor delay, oral motor disorders
- Suck-swallow-breathe discoordination, sucking difficulties, breastfeeding difficulties, bottle feeding, newborn feeding, infant feeding
- Introduction of solids, difficulty transitioning to solids, biting and chewing difficulties
- Feeding equipment, bottles, nipples, baby food, spoons, cups, teething toys
- Modified diets, thickened liquids, thickened fluids
- Non-oral feeding, tube feeding, tube weaning
- Oral stimulation, oral desensitization
- Tracheostomy, speaking valves
- Clinical feeding evaluation, feeding assessment, swallow assessment
- Modified barium swallow (MBS), video fluoroscopic swallow study (VFSS), fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES)
We address feeding and swallowing issues in children who have:
Prematurity
- Low gestational age at birth
- Respiratory disease
- Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD)
- Chronic lung disease (CLD)
- Low birth weight
- Comorbidities associated with prematurity
Respiratory and aerodigestive disorders that can impact feeding and swallowing
- Apnea of the newborn
- Laryngomalacia, tracheomalacia, bronchomalacia
- Laryngeal cleft
- Reactive airway disease
- Pneumonia/bronchiolitis
Cardio-pulmonary disorders that can impact feeding and swallowing
- Cyanotic heart defects, acyanotic heart defects
- Hypoplastic left heart syndrome
- Cardiac disease
- Congenital heart disease
- Ventricular septal defect (ASD)
- Patient ductus arteriosus (PDA)
Gastrointestinal and growth Issues that can impact feeding and swallowing
- Congenital diaphragmatic hernia
- Food allergies
- Food intolerances
- Esophageal strictures
- Failure to thrive
- Nectrotising enterocolotis (NEC)
- Gastroschesis
- Hirschprung’s disease
- Tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF)
- Esophageal atresia (EA) and long gap esophageal atresia (LGEA)
- Gastroesophageal reflux (GER)
- Eosinophillic esophagitis (EE)
- Short gut syndrome/short bowel syndrome
Neurological and neuromuscular disorders that can impact feeding and swallowing
- Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH)
- Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL)
- Hydrocephalus
- Seizures
- Epilepsy
- Microcephaly
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and acquired brain injury (ABI)
- Brain tumors
- Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE)
- Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)
- Muscular dystrophy (MD)
- Multiple sclerosis (MS)
- Cerebral palsy (CP)
- Chiari malformation
Congenital abnormalities that can impact feeding and swallowing
- Cleft lip, cleft palate
- Pierre Robin sequence
- Other cranio-facial syndromes
- Moebius syndrome
- Micrognathia
Medical treatments that may impact feeding and swallowing
- Tube feeding (OG, NG, NJ, PEG, gastrostomy)
- Respiratory support (e.g. ventilation, high-flow, CPAP, oxygen)
- Tracheostomy, nasopharyngeal (NP) airway
- Some medications
Ingestional injuries (e.g. swallowing detergents or a battery)
Structural or airway complications
- Laryngeal cleft
- Tongue tie
- Chronic tonsillitis
- Vocal cord/vocal fold paralysis
- Subglottic stenosis
- Laryngomalacia
- Tracheomalacia
- Tracheostomy
- Choanal atresia
Genetic disorders that can impact feeding and swallowing
- Down syndrome
- CHARGE Association
- Rett Syndrome
- Prader-Willi syndrome
- Cornelia de Lange syndrome
- 22q11 deletion (DiGeorge or velocardiofacial syndrome)
Sensory processing disorders (SPD), autism spectrum disorders (ASD)
Behavioral feeding difficulties (e.g. food aversion)
Please note: this list is not exhaustive.