Sharing UNC Children’s – North Carolina Children’s Hospital’s post

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1LWL3PKJ6r

UNC Children’s posted about one of wonderful kids from feeding clinic and I am sharing here! Last year, we obtained an Innovative UNC grant to bring TEACCH, the UNC autism center (https://teacch.com/) and the UNC feeding team (https://www.uncchildrens.org/uncmc/unc-childrens/care-treatment/feeding-and-swallowing-disorders/meet-the-feeding-team/) together to develop some strategies to work with our children with autism. CJ is one the kids we worked with. I have gotten some emails asking about our treatment strategies and I will do another post highlighting this. We plan to offer some feeding workshops through TEACCH next spring.

Christopher Mangum, better known as CJ, started working with the UNC Pediatric Feeding Team when he was 6. He had never eaten solid food and was living on large amounts of juice and milk. In just 6 months, he transitioned to a nutritionally complete pediatric formula, learned to eat solids and now enjoys eating!

His mom, Tawana Brooks, said she wanted to find a team that had experience working with kids who have autism, as more than half of children with autism have issues with feeding.

Just last year, the feeding team began a partnership with the UNC TEACCH Autism Program—adding a psychologist who specializes in autism to be a part of the team.

“I was blessed to know that I had supportive people behind my kid,” she says. “We didn’t think this type of progress was possible and had been to people who didn’t want to take the time. This team is giving people hope.”

Krisi Brackett, PhD, CCC-SLP, C/NDT -CJ’s feeding therapist, credits Brooks’ dedication to her son’s care as a big part of his success.

#OneGreatTeam#autismawareness#feedingtherapy