Multidisciplinary approach

Our feeding clinic offers a comprehensive multidisciplinary service to children, young adults and their families. We believe in providing a holistic service that consider the individual, their difficulties and the impact of the difficulties on those around them and their environment. We therefore provide an extensive service with in depth assessments, interventions and advice. We understand that eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties or disorders have both physical aspects as well as psychological and emotional responses too. That is why we provide a range of specialists who can help provide support and advice to the individual and their families.

Our multidisciplinary service is made up of:

• Dietitians
• Speech and language therapists
• Occupational therapists
• Physiotherapists
• Clinical psychologists.

Our speech and language therapists at SLT for Kids work as part of the multidisciplinary Kids Feeding Team

Our paediatric dietitians

• Provide assessments, interventions and reports.
• Design a bespoke personalised plan to meet the needs of the individual.
• Assess and monitor growth and ongoing nutritional requirements.
• Provide advice to parents and carers to alleviate concern.
• Refer on to other professionals if needed.

Our speech and language therapists:

• Gather background information and assess eating, drinking and swallowing skills.
• Identify significant risks such as choking.
• Give advice to the individual and parents and carers such as:
• How to help with eating and drinking.
• How to make mealtimes more fun.
• Types of food that are easier to manage.
• How to encourage chewing through using different types of foods.
• Monitor progress and give up to date and relevant advice when necessary.
• Refer on to other professionals if needed.

The occupational therapist’s role is to support the development of fine and gross motor skills in children as well as helping them with sensory difficulties.

Occupational therapists have a unique role in the assessment, diagnosis and management eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties and disorders (dysphagia). Our occupational therapist create interventions that are bespoke to the child. Occupational therapist’s look at the child's fine and gross motor skills needed in eating and drinking such as picking up food and bringing it to the mouth as well as observing the child’s posture during meal times. They also investigate any sensory aversions, anxieties or preferences the child has in eating a drinking.

Our occupational therapists:

• Gather background information and assess fine and gross motor skills.
• Identify sensory needs related to eating and drinking.
• Give advice to the individual and parents and carers such as:
• How to help with eating and drinking, e.g. differentiated and modified utensils, chairs to support posture and positioning.
• How to introduce different types of food that are of varying textures.
• Monitor progress and give up to date and relevant advice when necessary.
• Refer on to other professionals if needed.

Our physiotherapists role is to work with children who may have difficulties with their muscles and movement during meal times or in general with their eating and drinking.

Our physiotherapists:

• Gather background information and assess movements of the muscles required for eating, drinking and swallowing.
• Give advice to the parents and carers such as:
• Strategies to control the head and body during eating.
• Advice on posture and positioning.
• Strengthening exercises to help develop the skills of the child.

Our clinical psychologists work with children who may present with behavioural difficulties during meal times or in general with their eating and drinking i.e. they may be eating a very restricted diet due to their diagnosis of ASD, or they may refuse to mental health issues.

Our clinical psychologists:

• Gather background information and complete assessments.
• Create bespoke interventions and therapy.
• Give advice to parents, caregivers and other professionals involved with the child.
• Refer on to other professionals if needed.

• Refer on to other professionals if needed.

Feeding is a complex process and involves a safe and effective swallow, sensory skills to monitor hunger and manage different tastes and textures, effective oral-motor movements, cognitive abilities and emotional or psychological stability to manage feeding. Children may have feeding difficulties in any of these areas of eating, drinking and swallowing.

Problems with feeding are best managed within a multidisciplinary team in order to ensure each child with feeding difficulties is getting the best possible treatment. A multidisciplinary team is able to draw from many different areas of expertise and can advise the child and their parents on the best possible management programme for them.

All of the different professionals work together within the Kids Feeding Team in order to provide your child with the best possible outcome from feeding therapy. Although you may end up seeing our professionals separately they all work together to achieve one goal, and that is to provide you with the best service possible in the interests of your child and their difficulties. All of the information gathered by our professionals will be shared and put together in order to inform each other of our work and of anything that may benefit each others work in pursuit of achieving your goals.

Our speech and language therapists at SLT for Kids work as part of the Kids Feeding Team and are able to provide therapy for eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties whilst working closely with the other professionals on the team. This allows us to work effectively together to provide input for your child's difficulties from different points of expertise.

For more information or to speak to one of our professionals email us at office@sltforkids.co.uk or call us on 0330 088 2298.

To discuss training needs within your setting please take a look at our training service page or contact training@sltforkids.co.uk.