Today was our much anticipated "Feeding Evaluation" with the speech therapist. I was anticipating, Laik thought it was just another opportunity to snack on munchies!
Prior to our appointment today, I had informed our EI and TEIS service coordinator that I really wanted Laik to learn to drink from a straw. Our OT recommended a Honey Bear. Therefore, my online quest started! I was online looking for a "Honey Bear Straw Feeder" and ended up on the coolest website called TalkTools. I'm here to tell you, there is a vast amount of "tools" to help with feeding. Laik's T12p is teaching me about things that I never even knew existed....thank you to the many therapists, doctors, designers and manufacturers out there providing such great tools! But all that aside, let's focus...
The feeding evaluation was to see how Laik did eating his normal favorites and to also see him try some of his dislikes. Might I add, that after all my discussions about Laik gagging on puffs and crunchies, in that office today....he chewed (gnawed...he still has no teeth) on those things like he does it everyday!!! So, needless to say, we can start eating those a bit more for fun, oral stimulating flavor! Granted, we still have a lot of work to do before we can tackle most table foods.
We left with a NUK Massage Brush. This brush is intended to help "wake-up" Laik's oral muscles. Add that to our daily workout regimen and we are now working his mouth! What if he ends up like me....once those muscles get to working, all they will want is to eat and talk! :o)
Also, included in our homework packet was a list of new foods to experience. For example: chewing on a raw carrot stick, a Twizzler, or even beef jerky! (Todd will like those last two as well...a nice Daddy and Laik workout time!) And I have found it is time to get to making our own. I have just ordered "Blender Baby Food" by Nicole Young and Nadine Day (a recommendation from a fellow T12p parent...Thanks Melissa!) and we will be cooking up some tasty pureed treats upon the books arrival!
And we will be doing "oral alerting activities" before meals too! The Washcloth Wake-Up, Finger Tapping on the Face, Hands Together Tapping, Lip Tapping, NUK Massage and Vibration! Not all at once, but hey, if it will help Laik, I'm game for whatever!!! And honestly, these exercises are beneficial for ALL children! The handout we were given states, "Because alerting helps children use their mouths more efficiently, over time their oral skills are strengthened. These skills are critical not only for eating but also for clear speech and making distinct facial expressions."
With that said.....We will do it with a smile on our face!
We will see the therapist twice monthly and I'll report our progress. And we'll just see how the Honey Bear drinking goes!
Here's to the new way of drinking and preparing meals!
Happy Eating!
1 comment:
You are a great mom! I know it is not easy to add a litany of oral-motor exercises on top of a busy schedule. I remember being more than a little overwhelmed after getting a stack of oral-motor exercise flash cards from our Speech Therapist. At first Drew was not game to have me messing with his mouth all the time. After a while--especially when he realized that some of the "therapy" involved food, ha!--he was a trooper. Good luck.
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