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
- broncho-pulmonary 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
- Hirshprung’s disease
- tracheo-esophageal 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.