Pediatric Dysphagia (Thomas - Online)

Course overview

Pediatric feeding therapists may struggle with managing the complex needs of dysphagia patients. During this course, providers will learn to use the results of instrumental swallow assessments to develop specific feeding therapy targets. Providers will learn strategies to develop a safe feeding plan to confidently guide families through their long-term journey of feeding challenges. Providers will review pediatric anatomy and physiology of oral and pharyngeal phases of swallowing. The importance of a comprehensive clinical feeding evaluation with be discussed. The pros/cons of various instrumental swallow assessments and indications for each assessment will be reviewed. Providers taking this course with receive an in-depth review of the interpretation of Video Fluoroscopic Swallow Studies (VFSS) and Functional Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES). Specific findings on the instrumental swallow assessments will be paired with functional feeding therapy goals.