I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that I would be speaking with a SLP (speech language pathologist) who specializes in pediatric feeding issues/disorders who I was referred to by one of my distant family members who happened to see my blog! Praise God! So I spoke with her on Friday and she is going to start giving us some techniques to try out! In the mean time, I thought I would share some of the products she recommend we pick up.
1. DuoSpoon: The DuoSpoon is a creative oral motor tool for children with sensory challenges. It's actually two tools in one: both ends of the DuoSpoon provide sensory variation. The sensation bumps on one end provide a bridge to texture acceptance. Once the child likes mouthing this end, tastes of food can be introduced. The child can be offered a favorite puree from a spoon which has the texture built in! The "speed bump" end provides a gentle wake up as the upper lip moves across the spoon bowl, and helps increase upper lip activity in food removal. Different food textures can further vary the child's experience with this end of the spoon. The DuoSpoon is made of FDA approved food-grade, very flexible, yet sturdy, silicone. I'll let you know what Abby thinks of these once I try them out!
2. Nuby No Spill Cup with Super Spout: So I just picked up one of these cups from Target and by day two Abby was using it all by herself! What's different with this cup? Well you have to chew/bite down on the spout, then water comes out. Abby loves biting down (instead of sucking, or eating off her spoons, etc), so this works perfect for her! And what I love even more is that it really doesn't spill!!! There are 4 stages of cups that you can buy to transition from stage to stage, we are starting out with stage one.
3. Food Chaining Book: The book just arrived today from Amazon, so I have yet to read it. But if I understand correctly, food chaining is taking a food that a child already likes and feels safe/comfortable eating, and building on that. So if they like strawberries, then start to chain similar foods into your meals and see what happens. Again, I haven't read it, so I'm just taking a stab at what it is. But i'll be sure to update you once I get reading! To be honest, I'm not so sure how this will work for Abby because she seems to take a few bites of just about anything, but its getting her to take those additional bites!
4. Maroon Spoons: Maroon Spoons Sturdy plastic spoons have narrow, shallow bowls to allow food to slide off easily. These work well with children who need to be fed or are beginning self-feeding but have poor lip closure, oral hypersensitivity, or tongue thrust. Especially useful for assessment or when starting on solid food, since the amount of food can easily be limited. I'll let you know how they work out!
That's it for now. All of this stuff (minus the Nuby cup which I'm already using) just arrived today from Amazon, so I'll try it out tonight! I guess I should start reading this Food Chaining book now!
Buh bye!
No comments:
Post a Comment