Maryville大学的跨学科喂养和吞咽小组免费为儿科喂养和吞咽障碍提供评估和干预.

一群朋友坐在桌子旁，中间准备玩彩色游戏《PG电子平台》. To the side, a kid-friendly fruit plate is arranged, including red grapes, clementines, blueberries, apple slices and Oreo cookie sticks and cream dip. Today, 听起来很美味的目的地和甜蜜的冒险是向一个名叫亚伦的4岁男孩介绍新的食物味道和质地的门户.

“All right, friend, what color are you going to be?” asks Sara B. Grzina, MHS, CCC-SLP, assistant professor of speech-language pathology. Aaron proudly exclaims, “Red!，然后再挑选其他朋友会是哪个颜色的姜饼兵. 格吉娜从牌堆中抽出第一张牌:一张蓝色方块，代表咬葡萄的挑战. “Do you think I can make teeth marks?” she asks Aaron. She takes a bite and shows off her handiwork. The group claps and cheers.

下一个玩家抽一张紫色的双卡，代表舔饼干棒的挑战. “But first you have to smell it!” says Aaron. “I’ll do it at the same time! Let’s all do it at the same time,” he says. Leading the group, Aaron smells the cookie, touches it to his lips, licks the top and then bites a small nibble. “What do you think?” Grzina asks. “Good!” he exclaims. 几周前，亚伦只吃传统的奥利奥，甚至连饼干棒都不碰.

今天的糖果乐园和它的创意食物挑战是PG电子游戏跨学科喂养和吞咽团队的一部分. 该团队免费提供儿科喂养和吞咽障碍的评估和干预. The program is a collaboration between Maryville’s Speech-Language Pathology and Occupational Therapy programs, 两种经常在医院和门诊环境中一起工作的卫生专业.

儿科喂养障碍被定义为不适合年龄且与医学相关的口服摄入受损, nutritional, feeding skill and/or psychosocial dysfunction. 高达25%的正常发育儿童和高达80%的发育障碍儿童经历过进食和吞咽障碍. Symptoms can include long mealtimes; avoidance or refusal of foods; poor weight gain; and gagging, coughing, choking or vomiting while eating.

The Maryville team leads therapy sessions in person and via telehealth, depending on the needs of each child. Sessions include interactive activities, like Candy Land and shaving cream painting, to food-based play like making pancake faces from fruit, sprinkles and chocolate chips. Like many children with swallowing and feeding disorders, Aaron, who has autism, has a limited food repertoire. He eats approximately 10 foods, 包括一个品牌的鸡块和干食品，如水果麦片和薯片. 他对食物的感官厌恶和对质地的偏好使他不吃水果和蔬菜，也不服用药物和多种维生素.

成年人经常忽视某些食物带来的挑战，比如吃新鲜蓝莓. Depending on the season, they can be sweet or sour, or crunchy or soft. 另一个障碍是，许多成年人从小就被培养成“清洁餐盘俱乐部”的一员,” which created complicated relationships with food. “When I say my son is a picky eater, a lot of people misunderstand and think it’s a choice,” said Christy White, Aaron’s mother. “But eating is a very scary thing for him. 这个项目非常棒，因为他们真的希望他成功，并为他量身定制了治疗方法. 他们创造了一个低风险、舒适的环境来消除恐惧感.”

吞咽和进食障碍也会给其他家庭成员带来巨大的压力, not just the child. Parents may cook multiple foods for a single meal, and parents and children may not eat meals together. Many parents have experienced the frustration of begging, bribing and forcing a child to eat just one bite of something. 而玛丽维尔的团队首先关注的是喂养和吞咽孩子, 他们工作的另一个重要部分是支持和教育父母将新学到的策略带入家庭.

“It’s been helpful for me to observe the team interacting with Aaron, like how they redirect him when he’s off task, so I can use those tips and tricks at home,” White said. 在参加这个项目之前，亚伦甚至不会碰葡萄或小柑橘之类的食物. 所以，他现在能够舔和咬这些食物真是太棒了. We’re really thankful.”

玛丽维尔团队的一个目标是早期干预和解决幼儿期和幼儿期的问题. “The earlier we can intervene, the better the prognosis and the faster progress will be made,” said Michelle Scott, MOT, OTR/L, ’14, assistant professor of occupational therapy. “Feeding and swallowing impact things like attention, sleep and behavior. Eating is also a large part of our life and social interactions. It can affect how a child participates in lunch at school with friends, 他们的营养和水合作用，从而促进他们的生长和发育.”

Maryville University students assist with the program during all stages, 从孩子进门的那一刻起直到他们从治疗中毕业. Responsibilities include conducting feeding evaluations, planning therapy sessions, participating in those sessions and practicing documentation. 邀请来自职业治疗和语言病理学的学生参加. “对于学生来说，这是一个独特而令人兴奋的机会，因为在大学环境中接受任何类型的进食和吞咽体验都是不寻常的。,” Grzina said. “Traditionally, 学生只有参加实习或实地工作任务才能获得这种经验. PG电子游戏的学生正在学习如何在进入社区之前支持孩子和家庭, 他们正在获得为未来职业生涯做准备的现实世界的经验.”

喂养和吞咽的经验是至关重要的学生谁寻求儿科职位, which are highly desired and difficult to secure. “PG电子游戏希望PG电子游戏的项目为学生们打开大门，让他们在简历上获得经验，使他们从其他候选人中脱颖而出,” Grzina said. Additionally, 玛丽维尔的学生受益于教师在整个项目中建立的跨专业合作模式. 他们有机会一起工作，更多地了解彼此的学科, and what every health professional brings to the table, to improve the quality of care for children and families. “It’s a safe environment to practice conversations, which builds confidence for young professionals,” Grzina said, “so that they feel less intimated when they go out on their own.”

Jaelynn Hunnicutt, who is studying occupational therapy, 在抚养她的弟弟之后发现了她对喂养和吞咽障碍的热情. 亨尼库特很喜欢和亚伦一起工作，因为他让她想起了她的哥哥，以及喂养疗法如何改变了他的生活. Hunnicutt说:“看到Aaron在这么短的时间内取得的进步是非常值得的。.
“I love that he’s always excited to do whatever we have planned. He always pushes himself, and some of the work we do is pretty hard work. I love watching him work through obstacles and achieve something new.”

由于她的经历，Hunnicutt计划在毕业后从事儿科喂养方面的职业. 她之所以选择就读PG电子游戏，是因为该大学的大一新生直接入学职业治疗项目, 它将本科和研究生教育与该领域的严格培训相结合. “喂食和吞咽小组是一个我通常不会得到的机会, and the clinical experience I’m gaining is incomparable,” she said.