Anyone with experience in oral sensory delays?

JuddandJessica

Hello ladies! My 13 month old was just given a referral into a speech/occupational therapy clinic at a children's hospital. Though we have tried transitioning to solid food since 9-10ish months, DS seems to be showing symptoms of a oral sensory processing disorder. He will not eat any foods unless they are pureed or crunchy (crackers, etc). Even something as solid as stage 3 baby food, he finds terrible and begins gagging. There is no evidence of a sensory processing disorder in terms of gross or fine motor skills. I have looked through the page of general questions (listed above) and have not found anything similar. Any mom or dads out there that have experienced similar issues with their little ones? What did therapy look like? Do you write an IFSP for a feeding issue?

Thanks!!

mommytoconnor

Yes my son was like this as well. I transitioned him to more chunky baby foods, thing that have more texture and he would gag horribly and spit most of it out, not because of taste but he was adverse to the texture. One thing we did that really helped was give him a vibrating teether or toothbrush.  There are more nerve fibers in the jaw than anywhere else in the body.  I just let my guy suck on the toothbrush or teether and it really helped, also blowing on things like straws, and different kinds of horns really helps, blowing bubbles those type of things that will help strengthen the jaw and stimulate. My son no longer has textural issues. He didn't have to have formal feeding therapy.

chardonnay24

My friend has a son who will be 3 in March. He has a really serious GI condition where basically all food makes him very ill. There are still only about 5 foods he can safely eat, not including breastmilk and special formula.

Because he didn't eat any solid food for the first 2 years of life, he was very averse to trying solid food, including purees. They started feeding therapy with an SLP at a feeding clinic shortly after he turned 2. They worked on very small goals each time: looking at food, smelling food, bringing the spoon to his mouth, touching it to his lips, putting it in his mouth with no expectation of swallowing, and so on until he worked his way up to eating purees. They did the same thing with different textures. He is still not eating all textures yet, but in a few months, he went from gagging at the mention of food to taking bites of cheese and eating yogurt from a spoon.

JoJoGee

My daughter had oral aversion, which is similar, but not the same, and dysphagia (which is completely different).  We have seen a feeding therapist for the past 2 years for her oral aversion.  For a while, we also had an OT come as part of her ISFP.  They used tools like PP mentioned to desensitize her.  Then, moved onto food.  For us, we often start a therapy session with the tool and then move to food.  Desensitization is key.

Now, my DD is still sensitive when food gets and stays on the middle of her tongue, but for the most part she has over come her oral aversion.

oandmplus1

DD did feeding therapy around a year old for pretty much texture sensitivity due to sensory processing (she has other delays as well). She would tolerate some stage 3 baby food when we started, but that was it. We used the vibrating toothbrush as pp mentioned and then would actually use that to spoon food into her mouth.
She is almost 3 and eats pretty well, but still is very defensive orally and will only eat certain textures. We have a tool called a z-vibe now that has a lot of different attachments that vibrate (a spoon, a hollow tube to suck food out of, a toothbrush and different textured chewies). She also has a chewy tube that we keep clipped to her shirt because she is always wanting to put her mouth on things or chew her fingers. This also helps stimulate her nerves and strengthen the jaw.

law&order

DS did OT for feeding issues at 13-14 months. He had poor weight gain from 6 months onward and possible celiac (based on his labs, but that was recently ruled out with an endoscopy).   His issues related to a strong preference for breast milk "flavored" things, crunchy items, and fruit. He hated getting his hands dirty (for example, would not even pick up a piece of toast because of the sticky crumbs). 

OT was tremendously helpful for us. He learned and progressed very quickly. We went to 5 sessions over 6 weeks when his OT recommended discharge.  We brought a variety of food to each session and he sat in a highchair while we worked with the OT to feed. We tried lots of combos, textures, dipping, etc. We also worked on general sensory processing activities.  One of our issues was "grazing" so we worked a lot on schedules and techniques to consolidate eating. they will also examine his bite/chew mechanics and swallow.  

We are headed back to OT (hopefully really soon) for the SPD issues that are inhibiting eating well at home.  He's a big sensory-seeker (for the most part. He has some hypersensitive tendencies, but primarily hypo) and literally cannot sit down at home.  He does awesome at school and will sit still enough to eat.  I anticipate that this round of OT will involve more work on his SPD issues away from the table and how we can meet his input needs to allow him to sit and eat. 

This summer we will also participate in group feeding therapy where he attends small-group therapy with other kids and we observe and receive education and discuss techniques and issues as they come up. 

My son did not have an IFSP and was ineligible for EI services. Our children's hospital has a really extensive feeding therapy program and fortunately we've been able to use those resources. He sees a dietician and GI regularly and recently had a 2 hour evaluation with a multidisciplinary team that included an OT, psychologist, SLP, dietician, and nurse practitioner. It's been invaluable.  

lemen99

My son had feeding therapy from 18 mo to almost 3 years.  We found an OT with feeding experience through EI.  She was AMAZING.  

He has reflux and was a preemie - he had oral motor coordination issues, texture/oral sensory issues & aversion, swallowing disorder.  Therapy was slow, but wonderful.  He is 5 and an amazing eater now.