Oral-Motor and Feeding Clinic at La Rabida Children’s Hospital

Is this a feeding Team?

Yes


What services are offered?

MD or Group of MDs with routine office visits

Outpatient: Once a week or less (overnight stay not required)

Additional information:

La Rabida’s Oral-Motor and Feeding Clinic Many children have difficult with some aspect of eating or drinking that impacts their all-around development and disrupts mealtimes, especially if they have developmental and/or medical needs.  The feeding team at La Rabida Children’s Hospital works to support your child’s eating, drinking, and swallowing skills.  Our ultimate goal is to help make mealtimes enjoyable for your family. Our Care Team: Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP): The SLP is responsible for evaluating the structure and movement of the mouth, including the lips, tongue, jaw, and palate.  The speech-language pathologist will assess each child’s ability to manage saliva and manipulate food and liquid in the safest manner possible and will also evaluate how well children handle different food textures and consistencies. Social Worker (SW): The social worker is responsible for assessing the challenges the family experiences around feeding and how they cope.  The social worker will also evaluate information, resources, and support that might be helpful to the family. Registered Dietitian (RD): The dietitian is responsible for assessing the nutritional adequacy of a child’s prescribed diet or feeding regimen and teaching and counseling parents to promote good eating behaviors that facilitate the child’s growth.   Our Services:

  • Comprehensive assessment of feeding and swallowing difficulties by an interdisciplinary team
  • Consultative services to support families, physicians, and other service providers
  • Recommendations at the end of each session
  • Follow-up services are available as needed, including off-site scheduling of Oropharyngeal Motility (OPM) studies
  Children demonstrating any of the following may benefit from a feeding evaluation:
  • Poor weight gain
  • Vomiting during or after eating
  • Coughing, gagging, or choking during or after eating
  • Food refusal or aversion
  • Troubles with age-appropriate food textures
  • Crying and arching during meals
  • Difficult or stressful mealtimes
  A physician referral is required. To make an appointment, please call 773.256.5786.