Great News for Families Interested in Interactive Metronome Treatment!

Interactive Metronome is a therapeutic assessment and training program that improves attention, concentration, motor planning and sequencing (from Interactive Metronome).

Many of our clients have benefited from Interactive Metronome Therapy, also known as IM. We are excited to announce that there is a new edition of IM available and we have it in our Plano clinic. According to Interactive Metronome, they have “re-thought the best that IM has to offer while integrating the latest technology”. The newest version of Interactive Metronome has a wireless trigger and headset and improved signal strength.

The new Tap Pad, which replaces the old foot trigger, is more versatile and can be used with feet or light touch. The most exciting part is that the new IM sets the stage for whole body movement, allowing the client to be more engaged in synchronous activity taking the greatest advantage of neuroplasticity.

Summer is a great time to do IM because it is best when done several times a week.

For more questions call our clinic at 972-424-0148.

Do You Suspect that Your Child has a Feeding or Swallowing Disorder?

Your child may have difficulty with feeding or swallowing in different ways and at different points in the process. Perhaps your child has difficulty with the texture or feel of food on his or her fingers or maybe has difficulty getting food onto a spoon. The first example might have a sensory component and the second may involve motor planning.

 A child can have difficulty with sucking, chewing or swallowing. Again, these stages of feeding and swallowing can have a sensory component and motor planning component, as well as possible muscle weakness or discoordination. Each stage in the feeding process is important for your child’s health.

 Signs and symptoms of feeding and swallowing disorders in children

Arching or stiffening of the body during feeding
Irritability or lack o f alertness during feeding
Refusing food or liquid
Failure to accept different textures of food (e.g. only pureed foods or crunchy foods)
Long feeding time (e.g. more than 30 minutes
Difficulty chewing
Difficulty breast feeding
Coughing and gagging during meals
Excessive drooling or food/liquid coming out of the mouth or nose
Difficulty coordinating breathing with eating and drinking
Gurgle, house or breathy voice quality
Frequent spitting or vomiting
Recurring pneumonia or respiratory infections
Less than normal weight gain or growth

 As a result of these signs or symptoms, children may be at risk for

Dehydration
Aspiration (food or liquid entering the airway)
Pneumonia or repeated upper respiratory infections which can lead to chronic lung disease
Embarrassment or isolation in social situations involving eating

If your child is having these kinds of difficulties, it is important to contact your pediatrician. Your pediatrician can examine your child to address any medical reasons for the feeding difficulty, including possible reflux or metabolic disorders.

A Speech Pathologist or Occupational Therapist who has specialized training in treating children with feeding and swallowing disorders can evaluate your child. After a thorough evaluation, if your child does meet the criteria for a feeding or swallowing disorder, the speech pathologist or occupational therapist will develop a treatment plan and work with you to remediate your child’s disorder. Working with the family is important for carryover of new skills.

Contact our office if you would like to speak to a speech pathologist or occupational therapist with special training in feeding and swallowing disorders.

Do You Suspect that Your Child has a Feeding or Swallowing Disorder?

Your child may have difficulty with feeding or swallowing in different ways and at different points in the process. Perhaps your child has difficulty with the texture or feels of food on his or her fingers or maybe has difficulty getting food onto a spoon. The first example might have a sensory component and the second may involve motor planning.

A child can have difficulty with sucking, chewing or swallowing. Again, these stages of feeding and swallowing can have a sensory component and motor planning component, as well as possible muscle weakness or disco ordination. Each stage in the feeding process is important for your child’s health.

Signs and symptoms of Feeding and Swallowing disorders in children

• Arching or stiffening of the body during feeding
• Irritability or lack o f alertness during feeding
• Refusing food or liquid
• Failure to accept different textures of food (e.g. only pureed foods or crunchy foods)
• Long feeding time (e.g. more than 30 minutes)
• Difficulty chewing
• Difficulty breast feeding
• Coughing and gagging during meals
• Excessive drooling or food/liquid coming out of the mouth or nose
• Difficulty coordinating breathing with eating and drinking
• Gurgle, house or breathy voice quality
• Frequent spitting or vomiting
• Recurring pneumonia or respiratory infections
• Less than normal weight gain or growth

As a result of these signs or symptoms, children may be at risk for

Dehydration

Aspiration (food or liquid entering the airway)

Pneumonia or repeated upper respiratory infections which can lead to chronic lung disease
Embarrassment or isolation in social situations involving eating

If your child is having these kinds of difficulties, it is important to contact your pediatrician. Your pediatrician can examine your child to address any medical reasons for the feeding difficulty, including possible reflux or metabolic disorders.

A Speech Pathologist or Occupational Therapist who has specialized training in treating children with feeding and swallowing disorders can evaluate your child. After a thorough evaluation, if your child does meet the criteria for a feeding or swallowing disorder, the speech pathologist or occupational therapist will develop a treatment plan and work with you to remediate your child’s disorder. Working with the family is important for carryover of new skills.

Contact our office if you would like to speak to a speech pathologist or occupational therapist with special training in feeding and swallowing disorders.

Hello from Speech and OT

Speech & Occupational Therapy of North Texas offers the highest quality speech, language and occupational therapy to the pediatric population in North Texas. We provide our services with a loving, nurturing attitude toward the child and with compassionate, comprehensive support and input for the family. Our model integrates direct treatment with family support and training to insure the greatest carryover of skills into the home and community.
We have two locations, one in the downtown Plano area and the other near Stonebriar Mall in Frisco. Many major insurance plans and traditional Medicaid are accepted as well as private payment.

Why is Pediatric Speech Therapy Important?

Imagine what your life be like if you couldn’t communicate with your family and friends. Even more critical, what if you couldn’t communicate with a stranger if you were lost or in the middle of a crisis? Imagine then what it is like for a child who can’t communicate their wants, needs and fears to another. If you feel your child is falling behind with expressive language or receptive understanding, compared to same aged peers, then you should consider seeking the assistance of a speech-language pathologist.

Speech language pathologists, sometimes called speech therapists, are specifically trained and credentialed to assess, diagnose, treat, and help prevent disorders related to language, cognition, speech production, communication, voice, fluency, feeding and swallowing.

If you suspect your child is falling behind in language development, it is important to investigate further by contacting a speech-language pathologist or by seeking a referral to a speech-language pathologist through your pediatrician. According to the National Research Council, speech therapy should start as early as possible and be frequent in intensity if a child has a speech or language disorder.

A speech language pathologist will complete a full assessment, and if your child has a disorder within the scope of practice for speech-language pathology, a detailed treatment plan will be developed. For children, it is important to have consistent attendance for speech therapy to be most effective and the speech language pathologist should include the family in speech therapy for some part of treatment to demonstrate to the family how to increase carryover of new skills into the home or community.

Speech therapy should be fun for your child! Ideally, a young child will feel like they are playing, but a skilled observer will realize that many treatment goals and communication strategies are built into each speech therapy session!

Good news for some families it that speech therapy can be covered under some insurance policies and is also covered by Medicaid.