PFD Treatment Considerations and Transitional Feeders Flashcards
ICFQ 6 Question Screener
early identification/early intervention integrate into all case history for preschool and younger (6-question subset):
1. does your baby/child let you know when he is hungry? yes/no
2. do you think your baby/child eats enough? yes/no
3. how many minutes does it usually take to feed your baby/child? yes/no
4. do you have to do anything special to help your baby/child? yes/no
5. does your baby/child let you know when he is full?
6. based on the questions above, do you have concerns about your baby/child’s feeding?
assessments: general overview
- your assessment is a window into the child and family’s story
- this can be a stressful time for many families; give them grace and be respectful of cultural norms, the medical journey, etc.
- family’s understanding about your skill set and how you will be able to help the family, or where you can refer them for appropriate services
- you may not gather everything you need in the first session
- what you see is most likely the tip of the iceberg
- chart review, preparing for the assessment, evaluation of skill, parental goals, and synthesizing information
- stressing the importance of humility in one’s knowledge and skill
assessment: you may not gather everything you need in the first session
every session following this will be treatment and ongoing assessment
assessment: what you see is most likely the tip of the iceberg
go deeper and understand what underpinnings exist
assessment: stressing the importance of humility in one’s knowledge and skill
- you may not be ready for this particular child
- be honest and let the parents know that you are learning or will need mentorship but are willing to work together
evaluations: using the PFD domains
- address each area of the PFD framework
- we “live in” the oral skill/sensory domain but still need to see the “big picture”
- list the referrals already undergone and results and also make appropriate referrals
- have the most naturalistic observations
- caregiver input is paramount
- if the child is coming from a community providers, you may be the first stop!
- advocate advocate advocate
clinical assessment session structure
- chart review
- case history and interview
- oral mech
- observation of typical feeding/what is successful
- challenge foods/what the concerns are
- sensory and skill assessment with foods
clinical assessment session structure: sensory and skill assessment with foods
- want to see a variety, levels of interaction, etc.
- use norms to guide what you present and look for
parent interview across the age spectrum: key questions to ask all parents (regardless of the age)
- feeding time: how long does it take to feed your child?
- mealtime stress: are mealtimes stressful to child and/or parent?
- growth: is your child gaining weight ok?
- respiratory system: are there signs of respiratory problems?
- GI system: are there things like reflux, GI retching, irritability with feeds?
- consider a food dairy
parent interview across the age spectrum: you obviously need to gather information about skill, utensils, etc., however, these are some key areas that you should target first
- you can always gather skill data and utensils etc. in subsequent appts as well
- take mental notes of the care
- family and child interaction
parent interview across the age spectrum: take mental notes of care
- family and child interactions
- immature vs. disordered/abnormal patterns
- food refusal may occur for many reasons (in-depth treatment of the topic would be an entirely separate session)
parent interview across the age spectrum: family and child interaction
gather the following information (by direct observation and caregiver reports):
- what is the child’s appetite, hunger, interest in eating?
- does the child have regular mealtimes or snacks/grazing?
- what is the duration of mealtimes?
- are distractions present?
- are rewards give for eating?
developmental feeding continuum: approximate developmental age and type of food
- 0-13 months: breast milk/bottle (formula)
- 5-6 months: thin baby food cereals
- 6-7 months: thin baby food purees (Gerber Stage 1)
- 7-8 months: thicker baby food cereals
- 8-9 months: soft mashed table foods and table food smooth purees
- 9 months: meltable solids (Towne House crackers, Gerber biter biscuits, graham crackers)
- 10 months: soft solids (bananas, Gerber Graduate fruits, avocado)
- 11 months: soft single texture solids (Gerber Stage 3, macaroni and cheese, french fries, lasgna)
- 12-14 months: soft table foods
assessment considerations for children over 6 months: sensory regulation
food and non-food related experiences and input
assessment considerations for children over 6 months: oral mechanism exam
adapting it with considerations for behavior, dentition, previous oral experiences
nutritive feeding assessment
- observation across textures (accepted and challenging/new foods)
- is the utensil choice contributing to the deficits
- be prepared to step back and build rapport during this session or not even get into the mouth
thoughts on formal assessments
- multiple from feeding flock group (now infant feedingcare.com)
- PediEat is a good resource for a wide range 6 months +
- no one standardized assessment: still researching broad range of “typical”
- one you’ve identified that “feeding skills” is the top domain for intervention (oral sensory, oral motor, or pharyngeal function), you must determine what therapeutic activities to utilize…treatment next
intervention considerations: oral sensory function
using intake log and assessment of various texture to determine
intervention considerations: oral motor function
- postural stability correlated to oral motor skills
- use identified areas of growth from oral motor assessment to identify areas of needed intervention
intervention considerations: pharyngeal function
- silent aspiration not uncommon in infants
- can target exercises from physiological deficits identified in MBS in preschoolers + (same activities as adults but with a peds twist!)
feeding skill domain: intervention considerations
note that sensory function and motor skill can be closely tied/not easy to tease out
establishing treatment priorities and goal writing
- finding balance between caregiver goals child’s ability/stage
- are there treatment targets we can address, while waiting for information regarding other areas?
- communication on what we plan to target and how to measure progress
- clinician expertise and comfort level
establishing treatment priorities and goal writing: are there treatment targets we can address, while waiting for information regarding other areas?
while we wait for results from a swallow study (medical/skill domain), can we work on educating the parents on stop cues, not forcing a child (psychosocial)
establishing treatment priorities and goal writing: clinician expertise and comfort level
- know your scope and expertise
- “do no harm”, “just wing it”, “trial and error”, is it appropriate?
- establish common ground and jargon so clinicians and caregivers are on the same page
- carryover goals into the home in a realistic manner
general feeding therapy considerations
- part of a larger picture so you are one part of the team managing the child’s feeding
- ongoing reassessment of interventions, effectiveness, and need to revise plan
- carryover to home
- learned avoidance
general feeding therapy considerations: learned avoidance
- result of aversive experiences (medical, sensory, skills)
- can be historical
feeding should be fun and feel good!
- parents are responsive
- parents know what to do when therapist isn’t there
- behaviorist approach to feeding
parents are responsive
- child has success at every level
- children and parents feel celebrated
behaviorist approach to feeding
- view feeding as a behavior that you can modify through positive reinforcement
- however, this is proven evidence-based to work short-term
- some data looking at long-term effects that demonstrate the short-term effect do not last
behaviorist approach to feeding: thoughts why?
- external motivator loses the luster
- exhausting without the internal motivation
- preschools, daycares, and schools cannot physically do physical-based behavioral therapy
basic tenants of therapy
- PFD interventions should be positive and/or neutral
- we want them to enjoy eating
- stop the negative cycle
- take the anxiety and fear away
- consider fight or flight
sessions should resemble a meal as much as possible
- food isn’t plastic –> use food to teach eating
- it doesn’t vibrate either…
- use tools with caution (what is the why? what is the evidence?)
treatment considerations: seating and positioning
- postural stability
- collaboration with PT to target this area
treatment considerations with seating and positioning: postural stability
- 90/90/90 (seated upright, head/neck neutral, feet on floor)
- need adequate postural stability and trunk support to facilitate child’s ability to focus on oral motor skills
treatment considerations with seating and positioning: can use
- towel rolls
- seat/chair inserts
- adaptive seating
- tumbleform chair
- rifton chairs/rifton activity chairs
- boppy pillow, standard pillows
other treatment considerations: social modeling
- you model what you want them to do
- family mealtime
- visual feedback
- exaggerate oral motor movements
- use of mirrors
- language
- use descriptive language can help build bridges between food
- slow and steady wins the race
- can take 15-20 + presentations of a new food before accepted
roles and responsibilities in therapy
following child’s lead can be longer but increased carryover
parent or therapist’s responsibilities
- what is offered
- when it is offered
- importance of schedule/not grazing/establish hunger/satiation
- how it is offered
child’s responsibilities
- which items to eat
- how much to eat
red flags in sensory function
- decreased tolerance for smells (food or environment)
- inability to tolerate the sound of chewing and crunching
- decreased/heightened sensation of food in or around the mouth
- overstimulated by sounds and visual stimulation in the environment or during mealtimes
- walking around the house while eating/unable to sit in the chair for sustained periods of time
- limited to poor hunger sensation
- collaboration with an OT to design a systematic sensory diet, while targeting oral sensory programs is crucial
- just a glimpse to revisit and reground before targeting treatment options
red flags in sensory function: just a glimpse to revisit and reground before targeting treatment options
- may not be all related to oral function, but play a part in the feeding experience
- collaborating with OT to figure out what other sensory systems are involved and impacted
- sensory seeking, sensory avoiding
treatment of oral sensory function
- outside in approach
- sensory preparation (guided by OT not always required)
- access cognitive ability of child/play (turn food into items to explore)
- involve in food prep/cooking
- can even consider stepwise exposures/interventions once get into mouth
- packaging consideration
- access language skills to make bridges between foods
- consider all sensory stimuli
- consider environments and how responses may vary
treatment of oral sensory function: outside in approach
- stop at the outermost space and move systematically toward the mouth/consumption
- process is slow, systematic, small, repeated steps
- can the child move through varying degrees of complex interaction with food? sight, smell, direct/indirect interaction, touch, taste (lick, bite, swallow, etc.)
outside in approach: sight
can they tolerate seeing it? (peak a boo on the plate)
outside in approach: direct/indirect interaction
- passing it around the table in a bowl/on a plate? (family mealtime serving/tea time with dolls/animals)
- can they serve it with a utensil to another’s plate? their plate?
outside in approach: touch (extremities, face, mouth)
- can they touch it with their hands? (poke it with a fingertip, grasp it in their palm, even to pick up to put in the trash or feed another?)
- can it move up their arm towards their face (like driving a car, walking animal)
- can they put it to their lips?
treatment of oral sensory function: can even consider stepwise exposures/interventions once get into mouth
- mouse bite
- small taste
treatment of oral sensory function: consider all sensory stimuli
- vestibular
- proprioception
- tactile
- taste
- smell (how fragrant is it?)
- visual input
- auditory stimuli
treatment of oral sensory function: consider environments and how responses may vary
- change one property at a time
- similar colors, shapes, textures, temperature
treatment of spoon feeding
- consider spoon type: depth of bowl, textured surface, metal/silicone/plastic
- volume on spoon: can impact jaw grading needed and create additional challenges
- present within visual field and at the level of lower lip to avoid neck extension
- J presentation in/down –> out/up
- sideways presentation of the spoon
- tactile cues to upper lips
treatment of spoon feeding: J presentation in/down –> up/out
- downward pressure with the spoon on the midblade of tongue
- provide mandibular stability with your other hand if needed
- once lips close, draw the spoon out without scraping
treatment of spoon feeding: sideways presentation of the spoon
- contacts the corners of the lips and works on eliminating tongue protrusion
- provides additional stability
- pause and wait for closure, prompt with tactile cue if needed
treatment of spoon feeding: tactile cues to upper lips
- adding texture or sticky foods on the spoon to re-alert sensory system
- vibrating spoon like Zvibe (use only with strong individual data that this is effective)
using the spoon to bridge from purees to more complex solids
- tongue lateralization
- needed to transition to solids
- crucial for oral motor control/bolus control, cohesion
using the spoon to bridge from purees to more complex solids: tongue lateralization
- lateral placement of spoon: activate transverse tongue reflex with purees if still present
- use alerting tastes for increased input when placed laterally
- sticky purees on molars/sides
chewing
- move through the IDDSI or developmental food continuation
- consider tulle/cheesecloth or other chewing supports
- consider lateral placement of small meltables on molar surfaces
- ensure you also work on tongue lateralization
- ensure they are chewing not tongue mashing
treatment of cup drinking
- cup type
- flow rate of the liquid
- present cup to lower lip
- provide jaw support
- sensory properties of the liquid
- reflo cup, infa trainer for bolus grading
- cold or tart flavors can assist with muscle contraction, provide more intra-oral awareness
treatment of cup drinking: cup type
- ability to tip the cup and get bolus without neck extension
- should give feeder a view of the mouth
- consideration for lip/rim depending on oral motor skills (is the child using their teeth to stabilize the cup?)
- easy to hold and regulate flow by feeder and eventually child
treatment of cup drinking: flow rate of the liquid
- thin puree, milkshake, smoothie, nectar juices: easier to control, increased sensory input
- shorter cups like a medicine cup shorten the flow time from cup to mouth
treatment of cup drinking: present cup to lower lip
avoid stimulation of teeth to promote lip use vs. jaw/teeth stabilization
treatment of cup drinking: provide jaw support
- ensure bottom lip stays in contact with the cup
- use hand under the jaw
treatment of cup drinking: sensory properties of the liquid
consider drinkable yogurts until the child gets used to the flow
treatment of cup drinking: cold or tart flavors can assist with muscle contraction
- provide more intra-oral awareness
- carbonated drinks for increased sensory feedback
treatment of straw drinking
- straw type should match skill and goals
- flow rate of the liquid
- method of presentation
- sensory properties of the liquid
treatment of straw drinking: straw type should match skill and goals
- consider length, diameter
- can be cut to match skill
- shorter = easier
- skinnier = requires harder sucking but smaller volume
treatment of straw drinking: flow rate of the liquid
- thin puree, milkshake, smoothie, nectar juices
- easier to control, increased sensory input
- thinner straws or shorter straws
- bending the straw to decrease flow, pinching to stop flow
treatment of straw drinking: method of presentation
- present tip of straw to bottom lip to promote lip rounding vs. biting
- present straw to buccal cavity to work on eliminating tongue protrusion
- provide jaw support as needed
- pipette technique
- feeder assisted delivery: Honey Bear straw cup, squeeze bottles
- use of lip block to promote lip rounding