A few weeks ago, we kicked off National Speech-Language-Hearing Month with a series of articles focused on working with the care partners of adults. Equally important are the individuals who provide care to the youngest among us—children. These caregivers play a vital role in supporting children who have feeding and swallowing issues.
Pediatric feeding and swallowing disorders are often related to other health conditions and affect more than 1% of children in the United States. Check out the articles below for new and trending resources on working with this population and their caregivers.
Feeding Difficulties in Infants
A New Angle on Feeding: A Case Report on Elevated Side-Lying to Support Infants With Cleft Palate: Although current recommendations for children with cleft lip and/or palate involve elevated upright feeding, a side-lying position may better protect children’s airways. These children require individualized feeding evaluations and interventions that consider each infant’s other diagnoses.
A Scoping Review of Oral Feeding Skill Development in Typically Developing Children – Part II: Exploring Variability in Oral Feeding Skill Descriptions: A standardized measure of oral feeding skills for typically developing children can help inform how children with feeding difficulties are progressing. This article includes a framework that may improve consistency when assessing feeding development for more accurate identification of atypical feeding.
Feeding in Infants With Complex Congenital Heart Disease
An Exploratory Bayesian Network Analysis of Weight and Feeding Outcomes in 6-Month-Old Infants With Complex Congenital Heart Disease: Children born with complex congenital heart disease (CCHD) are more likely to have feeding challenges, resulting in growth faltering during infancy. Researchers suggest that these infants face feeding and growing challenges regardless of disease severity and emphasize early, targeted interventions.
Perioperative Management of Dysphagia Within the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit Utilizing Flexible Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing: A Survey of Practice: Instrumental evaluations of swallowing can improve dysphagia diagnoses in children with CCHD, helping experts treat these issues. The authors of this study investigated the ways clinicians use these swallowing evaluations as well as perceived barriers to their use.
Videofluoroscopic Studies in Children
Concurrent Use of Videofluoroscopic and Nutritional Intake Measures in the Assessment of Pediatric Patients With Dysphagia: A Scoping Review: The videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS) lets clinicians assess swallowing physiology in real time. Standard nutritional intake measures can lead to better clinical recommendations for children undergoing VFSS.
A Literature Review of Quantitative Videofluoroscopic Measures of Swallowing in the Pediatric Population: This review provides clinicians with a foundation for developing an assessment protocol toevaluate swallow severity in children using VFSS. Results may also help establish normative data to guide future clinical decision making.
There’s Still Time To Celebrate!
You can find more information on pediatric swallowing—including a new program from ASHA—on the National Speech-Language-Hearing Month website. In addition to childhood dysphagia, the page also offers resources for smart use of technology for children with developmental delays or disorders.
We’re more than halfway through National Speech-Language-Hearing Month, and we hope that you’ve been able to take time to share some resources with friends and family.
We honor the work that you do for infants and children who have swallowing difficulties—as well as their parents and caregivers.
