[DYSPHAGIA] Pierre Robin Sequence

[nikimylona@yahoo.com (Nikim)]

I am writing about a yound boy 19 months old who was
born with Pierre robin Sequence not due to chromosomal
abnormalities. The boy had a cleft of the soft palate
which was repaired at age 14 months. Since birth the
mother reoprts that the child had a lot of feeding
difficulties and developed an aversion toward oral
feedings. When the cleft palate was repaired a G-tube
was also put to provide the parents with an
alternative means of nutrition in case their son
continued to refuse to eat from the mouth. The mother
reports that right after the surgery and for about a
month their son had an icreased appetite and was
trying everything from the mouth and was eating a lot
more. However, because of  his very low weight, the
parents were substituting tube feedings as well.
Gradually, their son started not wanting food from the
mouth and refusing to eat and right now it's a
struggle to even try to give him anything by mouth.
The child has had serious reflux and frequent vomiting
and even though the parents know that the reflux might
be exacerbated by the G-tube they feel that they have
no other choice but to continue that since the boy is
refusing food from the mouth. The child is also not
talking. He is only making a few cries but not what
would sound like a normal babbling/vocal play. Also,
he only shows very little intentional communication.
His hearing is fine. 
Any ideas on how we can help this child both inhis
feeding and in his communication??
Thanks in advance
Niki

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Find a job, post your resume.
http://careers.yahoo.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, please send an e-mail message to
majordomo@medonline.com with the following text as a message:
unsubscribe dysphagia
---------------------------------------------------------------------