Have You Ever Seen a Speech Therapist for Eating Issues?

Yes, my son who has Autism has gone through a speech therapist for eating as well as an Occupational Therapist. As far as what they do at an eval sort of depends on the clinic and their specific practices they specialize in. For my son, one clinic who had the OT's deal with feeding issues took me and my son in a room, sat him at a table and gave him one food at a time, just to see how he'd react to it and then they'd log his reaction. Whether he pushed it away, started to cry, picked it up, etc.... When we started going to a new clinic where SLP's were in charge of feeding, they actually had me bring food he would eat so they could see if there were oral motor issues such as an enlarged tongue, poor muscle control, tongue confusion etc... My son suffers with oral sensory issues so it's taken 3 attempts at a feeding specialist to help us but we've come a long way:)

My daughter did not eat any solid food at all (not even gerber puff or cheerios) till she was 15 months. She recieved speech therapy and was eating a lot of solids within 4 weeks (she had therapy 3 times a week). For an evaluation make sure you schedule it during a regular meal time so they can actually watch him eat. They will work with him on many thing mostly introducing him to textures and showing you how to work with him for his particular needs. for my daughter it was a texture stick (about the size of a toothbrush) that i had to rub around her mouth before each meal to wake her muscles up and giving her small bites of sour things (such as pickle).

It's called oral defensiveness. Speech therapists can be a great deal of help with this. As he gets older, they may also want him to see an OT.

I urge you not to give up on this. You can give your son a lifetime of good eating experience if you get him the help he needs.

Dawn

My son was the same way and then ended up having a speech delay. Your child is very young so I am not sure what they will do but a lot of it is getting the child to just touch the food first, then put it close to their mouth, then lick it, ect until they can eat it. That is really good that you are doing this now. It will get better with time as well.

They will assess him per if he has "Apraxia" or "Dysphagia."
Because, both of these... can ALSO affect speech. And eating difficulties.

My son, via our local Early Childhood Intervention organization... got Speech Therapy for a speech delay. They ALSO give the child an overall developmental assessment, so that they can properly assess the child and/or what they need help with.
It is not hard. It is via "play" activities that the child is assessed.
Because my son was speech delayed, they ALSO assess the child for "Apraxia" or "Dysphagia." As I said, the assessment is for OVERALL development, per the child's age. So that they can properly see/know, what the child needs help with.

It is not intimidating.
My son didn't even know he was being testing for all these things. For him/us, it was just "play" activities and simple things, in which they have the child do in order to assess their development.
My son had a speech delay, is also a picky eater, but did not have Apraxia or Dysphagia.

And YES... the Therapy, helps. They give you professional guidance and help. Of which a layperson would not know.
Do what you can, to help your child.

Also read this article on kids and eating:
http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/extremely-picky-eaters-st...

We worked with a speech therapist when Piper was little. She had major reflux and aspiration issues and was developing bottle and food avoidance. She started therapy at six months and was done by the time she was 18 months old. The speech therapist was great. Some of what she did was kind of basic (introducing new foods, playing with my daughter, etc.) but it was nice to have an expert around to validate that what I was already doing was right.

I second the other poster - make sure the eval takes place during a regular meal time so your son is hungry. Good luck!

We are seeing an occupational therapist (3 mos now?) for refusal to eat solids (now 20 mos). My child will now eat SO MUCH - even ate a ton of kale last night on the very first introduction! Our experience, while I was not hopeful to start, has been incredibly positive! I just dread the day our therapy visits run out.... LOL

My friends son is 9 & currently seeing an OT for food issued. He has flourished beyond their belief. Good luck