Eating first meal a milestone for Emma
Concert celebrates Society’s birth
EMMA Coles was only able to eat her first full meal of solid foods when she was 11 years old. And that was years after she began working with Peninsula Health speech pathologist Danielle Surwald to overcome a case of severe food aversion. “You always get people saying they’ve got a fussy eater at home but it’s not quite the same,” mum Roz Coles said. Emma could only tolerate liquids until she was seven years old and then progressed to purees. Until recently, her diet consisted of just soup and yoghurt. In a milestone event last month, Emma ate her first proper meal – and finished it all. “My other kids wanted nuggets and chips and I decided to get her one and just see how she goes,” Mrs Coles said. “I sat there with her and said, ‘I know you struggle with this, but we’ve been practising so let’s give it a go’. “Then she ate the whole thing and enjoyed it!” Ms Surwald regards the event as a “significant milestone”. “Emma has had to work hard to overcome her sensory and emotional responses to food,” she said. “She has had to teach herself to bite and chew solid foods, something most of us take for granted. She is now setting her own goals and finding pleasure in eating. “It has been an amazing journey for all those involved and Emma should be very proud of herself.” Ms Surwald started seeing Emma
FRANKSTON Music Society will celebrate its golden anniversary with an Afternoon at the Proms concert at Frankston Arts Centre this week. The society was formed in 1967 by famous Australian and international pianist Vera Bradford and a small group of Frankston residents. Among their first actions was to establish a symphony orchestra – an action which will be celebrated at the proms concert on Sunday 27 August. Frankston Symphony Orchestra will perform Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with guest soloist Leigh Harrold. Other items will be Walton’s Crown Imperial with PYMS, Bernstein’s Candide Overture, Koehne’s Horse Opera from Inflight Entertainment, and Grainger’s Molly on the Shore. At the function, Mornington Peninsula Chorale will sing The Heavens are Telling from The Creation by Haydn, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s On Broadway Medley and All I Want for Christmas is You by Mariah Carey. Vera Florence Bradford was born on 5 September 1904 and died just a few months short of her 100th birthday. She studied piano at Melbourne University and, in her early 20s, travelled to the US to study with Percy Grainger. They became lifelong friends. “Even though she travelled, and played to great acclaim, Bradford always longed to return home and to give back to it the beauty of the music she so loved,” society member Jane Kelley said. “It was through Vera and a dedicated band of local people that we now have wonderful music on the peninsula.”
Taste treat: Emma gets stuck into some chicken sticks. Picture: Supplied
when she turned one after the Cranbourne East girl began attending Frankston Hospital for speech pathology appointments. “Danielle has been working with Emma teaching her how to chew and strengthening up her jaw,” Mrs Coles said. “She gave Emma a chew toy and some exercises and we’ve just kept working on that, pushing her boundaries and slowly, slowly desensitising her to food.” Frankston Hospital spokeswoman Jessica Mills said the role of the speech pathologist was to work with those with speech or communication difficulties, as well as help those with feeding and swallowing
difficulties. For instance, when babies have difficulty sucking during breast or bottle feeding they might come to an infant feeding clinic which is run by speech pathologists. Or, a stroke victim may have lost the ability to swallow, she said. “Speech pathologists may recommend changes to the textures of foods or drinks, and provide rehabilitation techniques and exercises to help people swallow safely. “Food aversion is on the more extreme end of the scale and the speech pathologist worked with Emma over the years to build up her tolerance to food and has most recently been doing exercises with
Emma to strengthen her jaw and teach her how to chew. It’s something we take for granted but, as she’s never been able to eat solid food before, she never had to chew.” Mrs Coles is also delighted with her daughter’s progress. “She still has pureed food for breakfast and lunch because we need to get food into her but she now will also eat chicken nuggets, chicken strips, hot chips, potato chips or biscuits. “It’s nice to know now we can go out for dinner as a family and I know it’s not the healthiest of options but we don’t have to bring soup with us.” She praised Ms Surwald’s “crucial role” in helping Emma overcome her food aversion over the years. “We wouldn’t be where we are now without Danielle,” Mrs Coles said. “She has just worked so hard and so tirelessly over the years. I’ve always known that if I get stuck I can just send her an email or give her a call. “It’s been a long journey and one that is still going but we’ll keep working on it.” Speech Pathology Week runs until 26 August. To access Peninsula Health’s speech pathology service, call 1300 665 781.
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