STAR Institute Feeding Team Newsletter March 2022
|
Joelle Fang, MS, CCC-SLP |
Nicole Pielage, MS, OTR/L |
Carrie Dishlip, CCC-SLP
|
Meet the newest addition to the Feeding Team, Joelle Fang! Joelle is a speech/language pathologist experienced
in the SOS Approach to Feeding. Joelle is talented at working with all age ranges and is also our Infant Feeding
Specialist! She is experienced at working with children 0 – 3 who struggle with feeding, supporting children
who are on G-tubes, and coaching parents on how to make changes at home. Joelle is tri-lingual
(she speaks English, Chinese and Spanish) and finds great joy with her clients. Welcome, Joelle!
Coming this spring – feeding groups at STAR! If you have a picky eater between the ages of 2 – 17 years,
come check us out. Feeding groups are fun, social and help kids learn how to explore the world of foods.
Upcoming groups include: Snack & Play (in-person, for toddlers/young children), Food Scouts (in-person,
for children & pre-teens), Food Scientists (in person, for pre-teens and teens), Little Chefs (online,
for children) and Head Chefs (online, for pre-teens and teens).
To learn more, click here or Register here.
Have you heard? There is now an official diagnosis for feeding challenges!
Pediatric Feeding Disorder, or PFD, was added to the International
Classification of Diseases (ICD),10th edition, in October of 2021. What does this mean?
It means that we now have a standard definition for how to understand feeding
challenges as a disorder (due to medical issues, nutrition, lack of feeding skills
or psychosocial challenges). Having a standard definition allows providers and
clients to better understand the nature of the issues and how to treat effectively.
It helps lay bare the differences between feeding and eating disorders. It has
implications for insurance reimbursement and collaborations between different
providers (medical and non-medical). It lays the groundwork for us to better
understand adults who have feeding disorders. At the root, the PFD diagnosis
helps create a culture and environment that is more supportive for anyone who
has a feeding disorder or supports someone with a feeding disorder. Read more about the history of the
PFD diagnosis and more about the components of the disorder here.
STAR is a research facility and the Feeding Team is currently doing research to assess the effectiveness of
our intensive One Month Feeding/Occupational Therapy program. We are looking for families to participate
in our study and looking for volunteers/students to help support the process. If you are interested in either,
let us know! You can contact the Feeding Program Coordinator at Rachel.balderrama@sensoryhealth.org.
Your picky eater may not eat it…and that’s ok! If he/she is having fun measuring out flour, mixing the dough or
opening/closing the oven, smelling it as it bakes or cutting it open to see if the spinach can be found, it’s a win!
We’d love to know how it goes! You can post pics to the STAR Facebook page or on Instagram by using our
hashtag #starfeedingteam
Check it out! This month our spotlight is on these cute sword toothpicks – a
fun way to engage your child in playing with foods – without having to touch it!
Play theme ideas:
- Pretend you are a pirate and the food is the “treasure” you are going to capture.
Find a “treasure chest” to put the food treasure in. How much can you collect?? - Cut a potato in half, turn in flat side down on the table, then pretend you are
Young Arthur from The Sword and the Stone, pulling the sword from the “stone.”
(experiment – is it harder to pull the sword from a cooked or raw potato.
Try it with both!) - Is the sword able to cut through different pieces of food?
What would be soft enough for the little sword to cut?
