First Bite #72 – October 29, 2019

Case Studies for Infants, Toddlers, and Children with Down Syndrome

(.1 ASHA and AOTA CEUs) For more info, click here.

Course Description

In this episode, Michelle is once again joined by the passionate Erin Forward, MSP CCC-SLP. Together they spend an hour dedicated to dissecting common airway, cardiac, and GI issues prevalent with Infants, Toddlers, and Children who have Down syndrome, and how these can result in a Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing Disorders. Special attention is placed on how airway, cardiac, and GI issues can occur in isolation, but often for our patients with Down syndrome, they occur concomitantly. Appropriate Interprofessional Practice referrals, Functional Feeding strategies, and shout outs for the amazing work that the National Down syndrome Society is doing…are all on the menu too!

Objective

By the end of this PodCourse, participants will be able to identify and describe:

  • 3 common airway difficulties for children with Down syndrome and how it impacts feeding and swallowing.
  • 2 common cardiac conditions that children with Down syndrome have and how does it impact feeding and swallowing.
  • 3 common GI issues that children with Down syndrome face and how does it impact feeding and swallowing?

Co-Presenter

Erin Forward, MSP CF-SLP

Erin currently resides in Greenville, SC but grew up in Rochester, NY where her family still resides. Erin attended the University of Pittsburgh for her Undergraduate degrees in Communication Science and Disorders and Psychology, and completed her Master’s degree in Speech Pathology at the University of South Carolina. She has worked in a variety of settings including early-intervention/home-health, NICU in a children’s hospital, and an outpatient feeding clinic. Erin currently works for a non-profit outpatient speech clinic, where she specializes in pediatric feeding and swallowing disorders.

Erin is the Co-Host of the wildly acclaimed PodCourse/PodCast “First Bite: Fed, Fun, Functional a Speech Therapy”, sponsored by Speechtherapypd.com. Erin is passionate about engaging in interprofessional practice for her patients and advocating for attainment of functional independence for patients and their families, all done with a little bit of fun and joy. She believes that if you tell a child they can do something, they can do it, which is what makes working with children so rewarding, as they inspire her every day.