This conference will focus on current, professionally accepted practice and procedures for school-based management of swallowing and feeding disorders. Children with swallowing and feeding disorders are being enrolled in schools in increasing numbers. These disorders interfere with participation in their educational program. They range from dependence on tube feeding to neuromotor and behavioral issues that interfere with advancing skills and safe eating in school. SLPs are the lead professionals for managing these issues. This conference will include discussion of educational relevance, maintaining health and safety in the school setting, review of etiologies and disorders typically seen in school aged children, models for a dysphagia team, assessment and treatment strategies appropriate for school-based programs , and collaborations with community providers, classroom personnel, and families.
Participants will be able to do the following:
- Describe the educational and administrative relevance for a school-based dysphagia program
- Evaluate the knowledge and skills needed for staff engaged in a school-based dysphagia program
- Identify the process of developing a school-based dysphagia program and forming a school-based dysphagia team
- Plan individual mealtime and treatment programs for children in school settings.
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