Feeding and Oral Motor Program

Eating and feeding are essential to our daily lives.  An inability to eat, difficulty eating certain types of foods, or difficulty feeding oneself can result in serious health concerns.  Our therapists utilize a team approach when dealing with feeding difficulties.  People with feeding difficulties typically are evaluated by a speech therapist and occupational therapist at SPOT at the same time to comprehensively evaluate the nature of the difficulty, the reason for the difficulty, and to formulate treatment strategies to best remediate the difficulty. 

The speech therapist focuses on the patient’s oral-motor skills, assessing the structure and function of the jaw, lips, teeth, and tongue during feeding.  The speech therapist also focuses on the patient’s ability to chew food and their ability to swallow liquids and foods without the risk of aspiration.

The occupational therapist focuses on the patient’s oral-sensory tolerance, whether the patient demonstrates high sensitivity in and around the mouth, or conversely, low sensitivity, which may impact the patient’s oral-motor function.  The occupational therapist also focuses on advancement of eating textured food items if the reason the patient does not tolerate textured foods is a result of an oral-sensory difficulty. 

Parents and/or caregivers are involved in the treatment and planning of home program activities to most effectively carry over the newly developed skills.