Dysphagia

Dear I.,
The other resopndants really seem to know what they are talking about with advice for the formal diagnosis. BUT...I had some very good luck years ago with the young 4-year old daughter of a boyfriend. I got her involved with the food preparation itself. Some aspects of safe knife-handeling can be taught at a very young age, and even if it seems that they are "playing" too much with the food, the involvement de-mystifies what goes on in cooking.Most young people could get bored with any repetitious activity, so A salad may end up containing some very irregular or over-handled vegetable pieces. There are some great lessons for the sociability of food preperation...unfortunatly most of us think of it as a holiday ritual only, rather than a year-round family activity.

Hi I.,

Here is a link that discuss in detail what dysphagia is, how it is diagnosed, what causes it and how to treat it:

http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/dysph.asp

If you haven't done so already, please ask your daughter for a referral to a speech therapist and an occupational therapist for an evaluation and treatment. My son also had feeding issues where he would pack his mouth with found and wouldn't swallow it. It turned out that he had oral motor planning issues, sensory processing disorder issues (where his mouth felt like it had novocaine in it constantly) and just didn't know the proper mechanics on how to chew and swallow his food. I found a wonder speech therapist and occupational therapist who worked in the same office who worked together as a team to help him be able to overcome this issue. We started treatment when he was 3-1/2 and, by the time he was 4-1/2 or 5, he was eating a wider variety of foods with different textures and tastes, and he's now taking proper sized bites, chewing and swallowing with no problem.

I hope what your doctor says is true, that she'll eventually grow out of the dyshpagia but, just in case, I would ask for the referral and get her checked out by professionals who deal with eating and swallowing issues on a more frequent and hands-on-basis. Your doctor may not have any actual experience with dysphagia or maybe not enough and his recommendations to you may be based upon something that he read or that one patient he treated that eventually was lucky enough to outgrow it. And there may be more issues coming into play here with your daughter's eating issues that your doctor doesn't have the specialized training needed to be able to identify them. I guess for me, going through what I have been through with my son and seeing the results we have had with ST and OT, I just wouldn't feel comfortable adopting a wait-see attitude on this issue.

Wishing you all the best for you and your daughter. Have a wonderful holiday and new year.

Disclaimer right up front--I am biased toward consulting with professionals who work in a given area when contending with a challenge such as this. With that siad, I would strongly recommend you find an occupational therapist with a specialty in feeding, as this is the person that can, at the least, provide you with a consultation in reference to your questions. I'm not sure where you are located, but the way to go about finding someone like this, regardless of your location, would be to contact a local early childhood development program, most often affiliated with a hospital (for example, Simi Hospital has an early childhood development center that has occupational therapists who do this sort of consultation and treatment). They can provide you with the name of someone who does this sort of work.

Hi I.. SInce your daughter is having difficulties I would ask for a consultation by a speech/language pathologist who does work in this area. I am a SLP ( but don't do dysphagia work)- I don't think that anyone who does not have experience would feel comfortable or be competent in this area.

That being said, if your daughter is not underweight, I would try not to worry about the condition.

I just read the responses you've received- they sound great to me. A combo team of an OT and SLP would be ideal.

Hi I.,

My son had chewing/swallowing difficulties. We went to an OT center called Therapy in Action in Reseda. They have a specialist there who helped him learn to eat. He is now able to eat almost everything. I am not one who believes that a kid will just grow out of it.

Good luck
L.

find classical homeopath in your area. good individually selected remedy will help.
good luck,
V.

My oldest Daughter is studying this in college. Contact your local University and see if they have a Communications Disorders program (University of Redlands does)and maybe they have some ideas and inexpensive help you while you learn how to mange this.

L.

I do not have a child w/ this. BUT, I do have a child that has been doing occupational therapy for over 4 years. And feeding is a big part of what OT's do. I would definitly get a referal from your pediatrician.

As a Speech/Language Pahtologist, I would suggest you get an evaluation by one who specialist is the area of Pediatric Dysphagia. Maybe a Children's hospital in your area would be a place to start. I recently went to a conference and a common problem in not that the child won't eat or can't eat. It is from Gastric reflux causing the child such discomfort so they choose not to eat. As a mother I would mention this and ask for an evaluation for this to rule it out. THis requires some further diagnostics on your part. It may not be simplel, but good luck and get some further specialists advice.

Many times, as an additional supplement to a child's daily diet... Moms use "Carnation Instant Breakfast" (it's a "meal" type drink), or Pediasure.
These "drinks" come on all kinds of flavors, and they are nutritionally packed with vitamins and protein.

My son is a picky eater, and I give him these on days when he is just not into eating any of the dozens of things I try to feed him. But no, he does not have dysphagia, so I don't know if this would "appeal" to your daughter. My son likes these fortified drinks.

Perhaps, there is "dysphagia" support groups or websites online? Maybe try and see if there are any. I imagine nowadays there are websites for tons of different topics, there may be one for dysphagia. Just do a Google search.
Here's a couple of links:
http://www.comeunity.com/premature/child/growth/index.html
http://www.dysphagiaonline.com/en/Pages/Home.aspx

As a side note: Can't your Pediatrician refer you to a specialist? I know sometimes dysphagia also affects speech and other things. I would think the Doctor could refer you to a therapist or specialist so you can get further support with this. Just leaving you "hanging" and on your own with it, doesn't help much.

All the best,
Susan

Dysphagia is REEEEAALLY common with autistic kids...and if you hop on any board or website dedicated to autism you can get some great advice. And commiseration.

My cousin, for example will eat cubed cheese...but not shredded, melted, or sliced. Same. Darn. Cheese. But at least he'd eat cheese. And if he didn't care that it was the same stuff over and over, fine. He is severly autistic however.

For non-autism, as well as many kids WITH autism, dysphagia is usually quite respondent to therapy over time...but it has to be done with care...and patience. Until then; If your daughter eats enough to get the nutrients she needs, count yourself lucky.

I., I don't know what you have tried, so forgive me if I am repeating methods that you already know about. I did a little research on line for some help. My first thought was a chiropractic approach. If the nerves are impinged in any way , the reflexes will be affected. No child to too young for chiropractic treatment. I can recommend Dr Mark Kennedy in Long Beach. He is very gifted and he is also very honest. If he does not think he can help you, he will tell you up front. His number is ###-###-####. I don't think it will be an instant fix, but he may be able to help you.

My other thoughts are similar, reflexology and acupuncture. You can find many easy to read books on the basics of reflexology in Borders or Barnes and Noble. I'm including a site that will just give you a basic overview of what it is and what it does. This is something that you could potentially do yourself at home. I would recommend finding a reflexologist in your area and taking your daughter in for a session. While they are not allowed to diagnose, you may be able to get some insight from the practitioner. You certainly can't do any harm. The point for the esophagus is shown on a drawing on this page.
http://www.kinohimitsu.com/sole_reflexology2
By applying light steady pressure, your are sending healing to the area. If it is at all tender or sore, you know you are hitting the right spot. You can do this in the morning and again at night before bedtime. Listed below are a couple of sites that explain a little bit more about how reflexology works. There is a reason that foot massage feels so great!

http://www.healthynewage.com/reflex.html

http://massagetherapy.suite101.com/article.cfm/howreflexo...

Good luck.

You should be eligible for free therapy. ask your pediatrician what steps you need to take to get it. Sometimes the paperwork takes several months, so get started right away. You will feel much better when you have other people who go through this kind of thing on a daily basis to ask questions. You may be able to get help through a local school district.

Occupational Therapy and digestive enzymes worked well for us. We used Val Plummer at OT Etc. in San Diego. She was wonderful! Also, our MD suggested digestive enzymes because my son was also getting frequent ear infections. The combination of OT and enzymes really helped.