Confronting Barriers and Achieving Success in Feeding Goals in Schools

Financial:
Financial: Amaka Ozah Winslow, M.S., CCC-SLP received an honorarium from Bilinguistics and receives a salary from VCUHS where she serves as a Clinical Speech-Language Pathologist in the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU’s Feeding Department

Non-Financial:
No Non-financial disclosures.

The challenge of implementing feeding goals in a school environment are both frustrating and multi-factorial for a school-based speech-language pathologist. Many therapists often struggle with the question posed by Jennifer Dahms, M.S., CCC-SLP in her highly circulated and popular article: “Is Feeding Intervention the School’s Responsibility?”. The answer to this question will be explained with thoughtful introspection during this presentation and the three basic tenants of every feeding therapy session will be shared with SLP’s looking for hope in achieving feeding success in the school environment.

The principle objectives of this presentation are to teach and train the SLP’s in learning the following: 1) learning the “Three Basic Tenants” of every feeding therapy session—regardless of the etiology of the feeding disorder; 2) finding ways to collaborate with other therapy team members to successfully integrate these strategies into any feeding-related goals; 3) writing functional/behavioral-based feeding goals versus clinical or nutritionally-based feeding goals; and 4) to thoughtfully and introspectively considering the real barriers SLP’s in the schools face and discuss the beginning steps on how to possibly tackle these obstacles.

This presentation will take the time to thoroughly assess evidence-based research that support the use of the “Three Basic Tenants” to feeding therapy and a special guest will be interviewed to help us thoroughly flesh out the challenges to implementing feeding goals in the schools and begin the process of tackling these barriers with sensitivity to the limitations faced by many SLP’s, but explore the victories that can be achieved for the most important members of our team: The Students.

Participants will be able to:
• Name the “Three Basic Tenants” of every feeding therapy session and identify the main research that supports its use.
• Identify at least two ways to foster collaboration within the patient/student’s Therapy Team in order to facilitate successful implementation of feeding goals in the school setting.
• Write functional or behaviorally based feeding goals vs. clinical or nutritionally-based feeding goals.
• Identify when a feeding goal is “educationally impacting” a student
• Identify two barriers that make implementation of feeding goals difficult to achieve in the school and provide two possible solutions to resolving those barriers.

Time-Ordered Agenda
10 minutes–Introductions and Disclosures
10 minutes– Basic Definition of a Feeding Disorder and its General Clinical Presentations
10 minutes –Identification and Discussion of Barriers to Implementing Feeding Goals in the School Environment
10 minutes–Collaboration with Community-Based Feeding Therapist
15 minutes– Three Basic Tenants to Successful Feeding Therapy & Rationales to Support Its Use
10 minutes–Functional and Behavioral Goal Writing for Feeding Therapy
10 minutes- Closing
15 minutes- Question and Answer session