Importance Of Swallowing Therapy Swallowing disorders in children may lead to severe health, learning, and social problems. Swallowing disorders are most commonly referred to as dysphagia. In this disorder, children experience difficulties with moving food and liquid substances from the mouth and throat to the stomach. Speech and language therapists can help children to get recovered from feeding and swallowing disorders. From birth, infants eat foods and liquids through sucking. As they grow up, they learn to eat solid foods and drinks through a proper process. They move their mouth to culture foods and drinks and finally they swallow the food or liquid at the end. Swallowing has three specific stages. The first stage involves, sucking, chewing, and moving food or liquid to the throat. The second stage is known as the pharyngeal phase in which the children start to squeeze foods or liquids down the throat. The final stage of swallowing is the esophageal stage in which children open and close the esophagus to squeeze foods down to the stomach.
Swallowing therapy is performed by experienced speech and language therapists to streamline the three stages mentioned above. Swallowing is a critical skill that is not easy to learn for all children. There are some common symptoms to identify the occurrence of swallowing disorders. If a child refuses to take food or liquid or cough or gag during meals frequently, she or she should be referred for swallowing therapy. If an infant struggles during breastfeeding, it could be a vital sign for swallowing disorders. In addition, lacks alertness during feeding, stiffening of the body during feeding, and increased nasal or throat congestion is vital signs of swallowing disorders. Efficient speech and language therapists help children to decrease the risk of aspiration during