EXFRM 2724 - Pediatric Eating, Feeding, and Swallowing: Beyond Infancy
Course Description
This online course provides a base of knowledge in assessing and treating children older than one year of age with eating, feeding and swallowing (EFS) challenges. You will learn about aspects of EFS, including: typical development, common disruptive conditions, how to identify the nature of disorders, and how to develop effective therapy interventions tailored to specific needs. Guidance will be provided to develop holistic plans that are family-centered, individualized, multi-disciplinary, and responsive to support the development of each child's EFS abilities.
Who Should Take This Course?
This course is intended for Speech Language Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, Physicians, Dieticians, and others with an interest in this content area.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
- 🗸 Recognize factors contributing to pediatric feeding disorders (PFD), their severity, prevalence and impact.
- 🗸 Identify common presentations and causes of PFD across domains of dysfunction (medical, nutritional, feeding skill, and psychosocial).
- 🗸 Describe the typical development of eating, feeding, swallowing (EFS) and sensory processing skills.
- 🗸 Identify components of a pediatric clinical evaluation of EFS.
- 🗸 Assess the form and function of oral and pharyngeal structures.
- 🗸 Apply understanding of development, texture progression, and sensory responsiveness to the assessment of EFS skills.
- 🗸 Describe assessment of the developmental skills involved in drinking, biting, chewing and swallowing.
- 🗸 Recognize the impact of the environment, setting, caregiver behaviour, and cultural practises on a child’s feeding experience.
- 🗸 Identify compensatory strategies and adaptations to support individuals in the development of their EFS skills.
- 🗸 Describe the components of a clinical summary and impression.
- 🗸 Recognize the multi-faceted nature of feeding difficulties, the roles of individual team members, and the benefits of a team approach.
- 🗸 Identify considerations in making a plan to improve EFS skills in children.
- 🗸 Describe responsive feeding and its impact.
- 🗸 Identify appropriate compensatory strategies and adaptations to apply in the stepwise progression of individual EFS skills.
- 🗸 Apply understanding of the development of feeding skills, sensory responsiveness, and texture progression to develop individualized treatment plans.
Notes
- 🗸A digital badge will be issued upon course completion. After the grade is posted, learners will receive an email from MyCreds with instructions on how to access their badge.
- 🗸For additional course information, visit uab.ca/pd.