Research Looking at the Relationship of Feeding and Swallowing Difficulties and Language Impairment

Prior History of Feeding–Swallowing Difficulties in Children With Language Impairment

Kathy Malas; Natacha Trudeau; Marie-Claude Giroux; Lisanne Gauthier; Simone Poulin; David H. McFarland

Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2017;26(1):138 doi:10.1044/2016_AJSLP-15-0171

Summary: This study looked at the potential relationships between feeding–swallowing difficulties and concerns (FSCs)  and language impairments (LI).

http://ajslp.pubs.asha.org/article.aspx?articleid=2601646&utm_source=asha&utm_campaign=AJSLP&cmp=1&utm_medium=enewsletter

Results founds that :

• 48% of children with LI had prior histories of FSCs.
• Using the odds ratio measure, author’s  suggest that children with LI are more than three times more likely to have earlier occurring FSCs when compared with the general population. Together these data argue strongly for the further assessment of FSCs and LI.
• Food transition difficulties and food selectivity were the most frequently occurring of the four categories in both the current and the previous investigation of Malas et al. (2015) .

Author’s  speculate as to why children with LI might have a history of earlier occurring FSCs:

• One possible explanation is that difficulties in feeding–swallowing, including food selectivity, may negatively influence language development, perhaps by affecting language stimulation and interaction (Fabrizi et al., 2010).
• Mealtime interactions are an important source of caregiver–child language stimulation and social interaction (Dunham & Dunham, 1990; Reyna et al., 2012; Spegman & Houck, 2005).
• A second potential explanation is that oral motor difficulties in chewing and sucking might influence later neurodevelopmental outcomes (Motion et al., 2002; Reilly et al., 1996).