by Claire Miller
How do you tell the difference between a child who has trouble eating and swallowing and a picky eater?
At the 14th annual Summer Institute in Communication Disorders, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists and other child care professionals will try to shed some light on that question.
The institute, which will take place June 14-15, 2012, in Dahlberg Hall (30 Courtland St., Atlanta), will focus on pediatric feeding and swallowing treatment, with particular emphasis on treatment differences of children with picky eating as a symptom rather than as a primary disorder.
“This is an area of need for children who survive traumatic births or sustain injuries that cause eating and swallowing difficulties,” said Debra Schober-Peterson, institute coordinator and director of the College of Education’s Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic. “This particular course will differentiate treatments for picky eaters from treatments for children who don’t eat well because of a medical reason.”
Donna Scarborough, associate professor in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, will be the institute leader. Scarborough, who received her Ph.D. in speech pathology from the University of Cincinnati in 2002, specializes in developmental/medical speech-language pathology, neurosensory physiology and pediatric dysphagia. In 2004, she established the Clinical Dysphagia Research Laboratory at Miami University and her current projects involve normalizing the gag reflex with a hand pressure point, management of sensory based feeding issues, ultrasound studies with toddlers, and development of pediatric feeding equipment.
Schober-Peterson said she hopes the two-day institute will give attendees more information about how to treat children with feeding and swallowing problems – a subject not always covered in collegiate classes.
“There are more and more speech-language pathologists who are working with young children who have feeding and swallowing problems,” Schober-Peterson said. “I hope attendees gain knowledge and confidence in their ability to treat these children.”
For more information about the institute or to register, contact Schober-Peterson at 404/413-8304 or dspeterson@gsu.edu.
To view a PDF of the program booklet, click here.
