Pediatric Therapy Specialists

Pediatric Therapy Improves Feeding Problems in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Feeding problems are common among children on the autism spectrum.

Eating difficulties have negative effects on a child’s physical, developmental, and psychosocial problems. Constant battles surrounding food makes mealtimes difficult and frustrating instead of opportunities for families to bond.

Fortunately, working with occupational or speech therapy on the underlying issues behind the feeding difficulties provides significant relief and improvement for children and families.

How Feeding Problems Affect Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Research indicates that 9 out of 10 children on the spectrum have some type of feeding problem. Children on the autism spectrum often have substantial aversions to the texture, smell, appearance, and taste of food. They are more likely to refuse many foods and binge on others (food jagging), leading to losing their already-limited foods over time.

They are commonly picky about brands, meal locations, and meal times. Many of these children are not proficient in utensil use. Some may even experience atypical cravings  or pica, the practice of consuming inedible items.

How Feeding Problems Affect the Family

As challenging as feeding problems are for children with autism, parents and family members also experience a variety of negative effects.

The distress and trauma surrounding mealtimes and eating send ripples through the entire family. Meltdowns around mealtimes cause physical, mental, and emotional stress to family members. Some family members even report gastrointestinal problems due to the stress of mealtimes.  Because of these negative effects on the entire family, it can lead to increased fighting, stress, and even decreased time that the family spends together.Feeding difficulties of one child can lead to their siblings being afraid to invite friends over, negatively affecting their social development.

Feeding problems can negatively affect the relationship within family members, resulting in marital disharmony.

Benefits of Pediatric Feeding Therapy for Children on the Spectrum

Fortunately, pediatric feeding therapy can relieve many or all of these challenges – both for the child with autism and his or her family.

Speech and occupational therapists help children with ASD  overcome sensory, motor, and social skills associated with feeding difficulties. Further assistance to help them develop techniques for emotional regulation and distress tolerance can reduce mealtime meltdowns, improving nutritional outcomes and reducing the stress on the entire family.

At FUNctionabilities, we specialize in pediatric therapy delivered in a play-centered environment that kids love!. Our specially designed facility provides the ideal environment for a child to experience quick and frequent results.

FUNctionabilities is located in Draper, Utah, but due to our amazing success, we serve children and families  throughout Utah. Contact us today to learn how our feeding therapy can improve you and your child’s life.

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Vote for Us so We Can Reach More Kiddos

We are passionate about providing revolutionary pediatric therapy to help children reach their highest potential giving families more peace.

Tell us about your business. What inspired you to get into it, what you sell/service you offer, what makes your business stand out and how it impacts you, your community or the environment.

We learned of parents in our community struggling to get therapy for their children. As professionals we hated to hear of long wait lists, short treatment plans, and no child-centered models. For 18 months we traveled the country to get advanced knowledge and skills and met with other clinic owners. We poured everything we had in to what we knew the children in our community deserved. Now consistent, life-changing therapy is available to these kids, and they love it! But our journey is not over.

How would you use the FedEx Small Business Grant money to make a significant impact on your business?

Many parents are limited in their ability to provide for their kids because of insurance and finances. To help these families we offer discounts and are creating therapy groups. However, as the sole financers of a young company, we need help. The FedEx grant money would allow us to expand our space for groups and offer financial assistance programs, so children are no longer victims of their circumstances and can receive FUN, effective therapy. Please help us reach more kids!

Learn about our journey so far . . .

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Making Therapy FUN

FUN is at the core of everything we do at FUNctionabilities. Because of this, children don’t even realize how hard they are actually working when receiving our lasting pediatric therapy. Our focus is on making therapy FUN. Deciding on a name for our pediatric therapy clinic was both easy and hard. We put a lot of thought and effort into the task, but in the end, we felt there was no better way to describe what we wanted to accomplish than the very first name we entertained—FUNctionabilities. When you define function as “the purpose for which something is designed or exists” and combine that with abilities, the “power or capacity to do or act,” you get at the heart of why we are doing what we are doing. We use this purpose to guide all that we do. It is this mission, along with our sensory-rich environment, that gives our speech, feeding, and occupational therapists the tools they need to foster true child development.

“They really do make therapy fun for my daughter. She tells me coming to FUNctionablities is like riding the down track part on a rollercoaster — just fun, fun, FUN!!” (Katie G.)

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What to Expect During a Speech Therapy Evaluation

The word ‘evaluation’ can sound intimidating, especially for parents and children who have never before experienced a pediatric speech therapy evaluation. There can be apprehension in not knowing what to expect when something is new. In reality, an evaluation for therapy is not intimidating or scary. This article aims to explain what a typical speech therapy evaluation will look like to ease any potential anxiety.

Before the speech therapy evaluation, you will likely receive paperwork to fill out about your child’s history, your concerns, and insurance information. This is frequently sent to you ahead of time so that you can fill it out at your leisure and bring it completed to the evaluation so you have less to worry about on the evaluation day. This information seeks to help you to better understand your insurance benefits in regards to therapy, to allow you to express the concerns that you have for your child, and gives the therapist valuable information to guide their evaluation.

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At the Clinic

When you arrive at the clinic, the speech therapist will greet you and your child. Sometimes it takes a few minutes (and maybe a toy or two!) for your child to warm up to the therapist. Most of the time, the kids are excited to play with new toys and have no problems separating from their parents. It is important for the therapist to have time alone with your child to begin to create the vital therapeutic alliance that will help them improve quicker. This time alone also allows the therapist to see what the child can do without the child wanting to rely on their parent.

Once the therapist takes your child to the therapy room, the formal speech therapy evaluation begins. The speech therapist will have chosen a formal standardized assessment tool ahead of time based on the presenting diagnosis and concerns. If your child has speech sound concerns, the therapist will frequently begin the evaluation with an oral-mechanism exam. This means they will examine the structures involved in speech sound production (lips, teeth, tongue, palate, etc.) and make note of any difficulties and/or abnormalities. This is a quick and non-invasive external examination. Sometimes children have low tone or increased tone, a short lingual frenulum (the ‘tie’ holding the tongue to the bottom of the mouth), or other physical factors that may contribute to or be responsible for speech deficits.

After the oral-mechanism examination, a formal assessment is typically administered. For speech sound errors, the test consists of having your child name pictures while the therapist transcribes the child’s speech sounds using phonetics. For receptive and expressive language concerns, the test consists of structured situations with specific questions targeting language skills using toys and materials to keep your child engaged. Fluency and pragmatic language can also be assessed through standardized tests. No matter the skill, the test will be chosen based on your child’s age, presenting concerns, and skill level.

Throughout the evaluation, the speech and language therapist also informally evaluates your child using observation and play. Many speech and language skills can be observed through a simple activity such as rolling a ball back and forth or playing with pretend food. If needed, the therapist also uses parent interview to obtain further information about the child’s skills.

After the Evaluation

Once the formal evaluation is finished, the therapist will bring your child back to you. The next 10-15 minutes are spent discussing the preliminary results of the evaluation. At this point therapist will be able to tell you if there are delays with your child’s speech and/or language, and what the next step should be. Sometimes the next step is further testing, while other times it is appropriate to begin skilled therapy sessions. Every child is different, so evaluation and therapy plans are based on each individual child’s skills, needs, and the parent’s desires.

Be cautious of a therapist who does not discuss the results of the evaluation with you or include you in deciding on priorities. The family is a large part of a successful therapy program and you are crucial to your child’s success in therapy. If you feel that the results of the evaluation do not match the skills and needs of your child, consult another therapist to obtain a second opinion.

If you have any concerns about the evaluation, before, during, or after the appointment, always feel free to contact your therapist or therapy clinic with questions!

Contributed By: Rachel Jacob, CCC-SLP

Reference: ASHA.org

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