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12: Mealtime Skills
Study Questions
- Why is a collaborative team approach to mealtime skills important?
- Why is it important to gather information from the family regarding home feeding routines?
- What safety issues must be considered during mealtimes?
- What are some warning signs of total airway obstruction? What should be done in the case of obstruction?
- What is aspiration? Why are children with severe and multiple disabilities at risk for aspiration? What are some signs of aspiration? What is “silent aspiration”? What kinds of steps can be taken to reduce the risk of aspiration? What are the benefits/drawbacks of each alternative?
- Why is it important to consider postural stability during mealtimes?
- What are two major challenges that affect motor control in children with severe and multiple disabilities?
- How do hypotonia and hypertonia affect a child’s eating/feeding skills?
- In positioning, why is it important to provide only the amount of support needed to ensure stability?
- What general principles should be considered in determining the optimal position for eating/feeding?
- Why is it important to study typical development to understand the effects of atypical development?
- In typically developing infants, how do eating skills develop?
- What are the most common atypical feeding patterns observed as a result of atypical oral motor development?
- What are some common structural abnormalities that may cause or complicate eating problems?
- When beginning to address atypical eating patterns, what physical, emotional, social, environmental, and interactional factors should the educational team examine?
- What are some suggestions for providing oral support?
- Why is it important to understand how a child processes sensory input and the effects of sensory processing on eating and drinking?
- What are some ways that sensory sensitivity affects eating/feeding?
- What are some stimulation procedures that can be used to help “normalize” the sensitivity in and around the child’s mouth before and during the meal?
- Why is it important to expand the variety of tastes, textures, and temperatures of foods? How can this be accomplished?
- What are some factors to consider during food presentation? (e.g., regarding position of person feeding, manner in which utensil comes into contact with mouth, timing)
- How can utensils be modified to encourage appropriate oral-motor patterns?
- How can respectful interactions during mealtimes be established?
- What are the important communication and social interactions that occur during mealtime?
- What are some possible mealtime behavior problems? How can these be addressed?
- What risk factors for nutritional problems do many children with multiple disabilities have?
- Why is it often difficult to recognize nutritional deficits in children with severe and multiple disabilities?
- What areas should be noted during nutritional screening?
- What are some special dental concerns for children with severe and multiple disabilities? What general steps can be taken to encourage dental care and prevention?
- What questions should be answered when developing a comprehensive feeding plan?
- How can controversy regarding the best times and places to teach eating and drinking skills be addressed?
- What are some benefits of non-oral feedings? Why is it difficult to transition from non-oral to oral feeding? What things can be done to ease the transition?
- What is graduated guidance?
- What is the general sequence in teaching basic eating (self-feeding) skills to a child?
- What are some more advanced eating skills?
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