TalkTools® Feeding Foundations: Kaleidoscope Model

 

Course Description 

Feeding -- the process of eating and drinking -- is something all species do instinctively. It seems like a simple act but it is anything but that . . .

 

TalkTools Instructors, Vanessa Anderson-Smith, Kaye Baumgardner, Monica Purdy and Rehab Zaytoun, have teamed together to create a comprehensive, "user-friendly," highly applicable course for speech and feeding professionals. This course will take a deep dive into the "foundations" of the feeding process, integrating a client-centered, family-focused therapy approach to feeding roadblocks therapists see every day across all age groups. The course will employ the TalkTools® Kaleidoscope Feeding Model™ -- which draws upon an evolving, multi-disciplinary perspective to allow flexible, customizable therapy approaches for building feeding evaluations and program plans.  

 Participants will experience hands-on, interactive learning with applicable techniques, case studies and key strategies incorporated throughout the course. Instruction will include: what to look for when initially assessing a client, identifying relevant anatomy and structure (including a review of the self-study module–see below), the impacts of these systems on eating and drinking, as well as outlining feeding milestones and what to observe when these milestones are not reached. Participants will look across the pediatric feeding experience, assessing infant feeding and the critical transition from breast/bottle to the table -- and applying evidence-informed, therapy-based strategies and solutions for overcoming feeding roadblocks therapists often see.

NOTE: This Course includes a 2-hour self-study module, focusing on systems and functions directly related to feeding, including breathing/airway and posture. Learners must complete the self-study module prior to participating in the workshop 

An extensive resource packet, including forms and checklists, is included.

Learning Outcomes

The participant will be able to:

1. Identify 3 structures/systems that impact feeding
2. Outline a course of action for breast and bottle feeding
3. Determine 4 potential feeding roadblocks
4. Evaluate picky eating vs. problem eating
5. Develop Client-Centered, Family-Focused Feeding Plan