Dedicated to up to date pediatric feeding and dysphagia information
Hi, I'm Krisi Brackett, PhD, CCC-SLP,C/NDT. This blog is dedicated to current information on pediatric feeding and swallowing issues. Email me at feedingnewsletter@gmail.com with questions.
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Check out- New Texting Program from ASHA and Lantern Provides Expert Advice for Handling Picky Eating and Other Feeding Challenges May 5, 2026: Feeding challenges are among the most common—and stressful—issues that families with young children face. However, caregivers searching for guidance often are met with an abundance of conflicting, questionable, and even potentially harmful Keep Reading >>
I want to give a shout out to Patheous education for a great course I took this week on Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES) training. Selena, Beth, Candace, and Rory were amazing trainers and made everyone feel so comfortable with scoping. By the end of the class, everyone was scoping like pros! If you are interested in learning about FEES or want to get some hands on Keep Reading >>
Please help us understand how feeding therapists use oral motor exams in practice - I am working with Dr. Scarborough and Jessica on this project and we want to better understand how therapists were trained (or not trained) to perform an oral motor exam, your comfort level with performing an exam, and when you feel it is useful and when you might defer the exam. We appreciate your time! Keep Reading >>
West, K. M. (2024). Treating Pediatric Feeding Disorders and Dysphagia: Evidence-Based Interventions for School-Based Clinicians. Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1044/2023_lshss-23-00016 This article addresses the growing prevalence of children with pediatric feeding disorder (PFD) and dysphagia within school-based speech-language pathology caseloads. Keep Reading >>
During my dissertation research on children with PFD and gagging, I came across an interesting technique to treat gagging that was briefly mentioned in a few dental journals and one dental dissertation. It was referred to as the salting technique. The Salting Technique Friedman and Weintraub described this: The use of common table salt can temporarily minimize the gag reflex. The Keep Reading >>
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/) Keep Reading >>
Here is a summary of current research..lots of interesting new info! Carpenter, K. M., & Garfinkel, M. (2021). Home and Parent Training Strategies for Pediatric Feeding Disorders: The Caregivers’ Perspective. The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 9(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.15453/2168-6408.1725 The study aimed to look at how feeding strategies that alter routines of Keep Reading >>
By Marsha Dunn Klein. OTR/L, MEd., FAOTA https://blwday.com There are lots of opinions out there about purees and baby led feeding strategies. Have you heard you can “never” use a spoon in baby led feeding? Or that purees are a “no, no”? These are myths. Let’s break it down. Central to the idea of baby LED feeding is that the baby shares the family meal and is a Keep Reading >>
Hello! I wanted to let you know about a free talk I am giving tomorrow with my colleagues Dr. Carmen Caruthers and Janet Martin. We are going to talk about our collaboration between the UNC TEACCH program and the feeding team and how we are working with some of our kiddos. Sorry for the late notice. It's 9-11:30 (not recorded)- please come if you are free! - Krisi Keep Reading >>
Post by: Nick Hopwood Tube feeding is becoming more common among children. Increasingly, tube feeding continues after families are discharged from hospital. So, it is important that parents and carers are confident and comfortable in feeding their child in a safe and enjoyable way – at home and in other places where mealtimes would normally happen. There are important medical and safety Keep Reading >>