From early on, my child had feeding difficulties and from that there has been an impact on language development and behaviour with food. Is there any advice?
It can be difficult getting a child to feed who might not be able to feed well or who has an aversion to feeding. It can become a bit of a family struggle and there can be a behavioural aspect developing from it. It’s useful to break down exactly what the problem is because it may be an immaturity in terms of swallowing, sometimes it can be tongue-thrusting – when you try to put food in, it’s pushed out. By analysing that, you can sometimes come to a programme of treatment with the therapist which will improve the feeding.
One parent found that giving a child with the tongue-thrusting issue, spicy and highly-flavoured food eventually led to him starting to enjoy his food although it took time. Speech and language involvement is extremely helpful for a personalised plan.
Question asked and answered at our family’s day 2015