Feeding & Swallowing Therapy Evaluation in Miami

The Purpose of a Feeding Therapy Evaluation

A feeding therapy evaluation is used to help determine your child’s current levels of oral motor skills, feeding intake, health and nutrients, their overall strengths and weaknesses of feeding skills and observe skills for everyday meal time.

Feeding therapy assists in strengthening oral motor development, expands your child readiness and willingness to eat a variety of foods, addresses any sensory or behavioral components that may impact your child feeding skills, and promotes positive eating environments for family mealtimes.

If you or your doctor have any concerns about your child’s feeding skills, a feeding evaluation is a great place to start.

Is Feeding Therapy Suitable For Your Child?

Look out for the following signs to determine if your child might benefit from Always Keep Progressing’s Feeding Therapy services:

• Trouble accepting age appropriate foods
• Undesirable meal times
• Refusal of foods/liquids
• Coughing/choking/gagging on when eating or drinking
• Gastrostomy and nano-gastric dependence
• Failure to accept a variety of foods
• Irritability during feeding time
• Too short/ prolonged mealtimes
• Bottle Weaning
• Oral/ tactile Aversions 
• Difficulty with self feeding
• Anxious Eating

You can find lots more information about feeding therapy on our Feeding Therapy page.

What to Expect During a Feeding Therapy Evaluation

During an evaluation, one of our trained and licensed speech-language pathologists specialized in feeding will complete a comprehensive formal evaluation, observe your child eating preferred and non preferred foods, and a complete oral motor examination. This information will be used to design a specialized feeding treatment plan with measurable goals to provide your child with a customized plan of care to address feeding needs.

• Comprehensive review of parent/ physician/ caregiver concerns
• Comprehensive breakdown from birth of the child’s medical and feeding history
• Complete Oral Motor Examination if applicable
• Preferred/ Non Preferred Food Observations
• Overall Summary and Recommendations if applicable

Our trained feeding therapist will discuss overall findings with parents/caregiver at the time of the evaluation. The therapist will discuss any recommendations needed to carry out the necessary plan of care. Our therapists will provide you with any additional resources, strategies, or home programs that may be helpful while waiting for your child’s first day of treatment.

Why Always Keep Progressing for Feeding Therapy in Miami?

At Always Keep Progressing, our feeding therapist uses evidence based intervention strategies in all of their treatment sessions to promote progress in every child. Our therapists are trained in a variety of skills including Beckman Oral Motor, Orofacial Myology, SOS Approach, Can Eat, Feed the Peds, Talk Tools Sensory Approach, Responsive Feeding training, and a variety of behavioral training techniques. 

Our therapists provide a safe space for you and your child to make progress in the area of feeding development. If you think your child needs a feeding evaluation, please contact your pediatrician to obtain a referral, or call our office at (786) 206-4151 for more information.