COVE SPEECH LANGUAGE AND FEEDING THERAPY
  • 516-669-0434
  • Our Services
    • Social Language
    • Safe and Sound Protocol
    • Foodology Feeding Therapy
    • Speaking & Verbal Expression >
      • Articulation
      • Late Talker Early Intervention Long Island
      • AAC
    • Reading and Literacy
  • About Us
    • Insurance and Payment For Speech Therapy
  • Shop
  • FAQ, Normal Development, and Red Flags
    • Normal Developmental Milestones >
      • 9-12 Months Old
      • 12-18 Months Old
      • 18-24 Months Old
      • 2-2.5 Years Old
      • 2.5-3 Years Old
      • 3-4 Years Old
      • 4-5 Years Old
      • 5-6 Years Old
      • 6-7 Years Old
    • Red Flags
    • What Causes Speech and Language Delay?
    • What is 'Normal' Speech and Language Development?
  • Our Community
  • Resources
    • How To Use Toys For Language Development 0-3
    • Recommended Products

Multi-Disciplinary Feeding Evaluation 

Eating is the most complex act our bodies perform. It involves every organ in our body!


The Importance of an Evaluation Team 

After a lot of trial and error and years of experience, it is truly in the best interest of your child and your family to provide you with an evaluation that truly gets to the root of the issues. A child who is extremely selective usually has a larger issue with their body. Only 8% of children have feeding issues due to behavior alone.

That means over 90% of children who are extremely selective have an issue going on in their body.


Our job is to be a detective and get to the root cause. Otherwise, we're just putting bandaids on the issue.  

Selective eating is merely a symptom of their underlying issues.

In order to treat the whole child, we must have all the information to not only get an accurate picture, but to develop a plan that will best help your child. 

The Speech Pathologist 

Picture
Imagine if someone gave you a banana, but with the skin on and you were told to chew and swallow it. When you told them no, you can't, they insisted, "it's good, just eat it." You would start changing the topic, throwing it on the floor, giving it to the dog-- anything to not have to eat it! 

When kids cannot physically manage the food, we start to see behaviors.

​The speech pathologist's role is to look at the oral motor structure and function and evaluate the movements of the tongue lips, cheeks and jaw. ​We are able to determine if the oral structure is adequate for eating, or if there is a physical reason the child is struggling to eat.

We can determine what textures a child is able to tolerate safely without choking.  We also include a quick language screening to make sure there are no issues. 

Why are they having trouble chewing? Is their tongue functioning appropriately? Is their body in a stable position and able to engage in eating? Our job is to determine what the child can physically manage and tolerate. 



The Occupational Therapist 


​The Occupational therapists role is to evaluate the child's sensory and fine motor needs. Eating is a complete sensory experience. The tactile (touch), visual, taste, kinesthetic (movement), auditory (hearing) systems of our body play a vital role in the way we eat. Occupational therapists play a key role in your feeding team, as they assess the child’s sensory, motor, feeding, strength and environmental factors which affect the child’s mealtimes. Since most of the behaviors that occur during feeding are “sensory driven”, occupational therapists are trained professionals in sensory processing and can implement a plan to ensure your child reaches their full potential while meeting their feeding goals. 
​
Each child's sensory needs vary and thus we need to determine what works best for them so that we can help them to regulate and be comfortable and secure when they sit down for a meal. This is vital for mealtime success!
 
Picture
Imagine you were told to eat a meal in in a room with sounds as loud as bombs were going off, where you felt you were floating in space. For a child with hypersensitive auditory system and poor positioning, this alone can make eating impossible!

Dietician 

Picture
Imagine feeling ill every time you ate blueberries. Now tell me that after awhile, you decide you would rather not eat then have blueberries. 

Food can help us, or hurt us. It is the job of the dietician to determine if there are any foods hurting your child and preventing us from making progress. ​
Our integrative dietitian is a crucial element that needs to be on any pediatric feeding team! With at home Biomedical testing, our dietitian can customize a supplement regimen based on your child's needs to make sure they are able to THRIVE.   ​
​
Food is supposed to be enjoyable and nourishing four our bodies, but what happens if you have a picky eater or a problem feeder? What happens if food is causing you to be sick? How do you make sure your child is getting optimal nutrition for proper growth and brain function?

Food sensitivities, gastrointestinal microbe imbalance, and micronutrient deficiency can impact your child on so many different levels. Food plays a vital role in our everyday life. It can help us or hurt us, it is the dietitians jobs to help your child flourish so they can continue to make progress! 


They will determine the optimal and most nutritious foods to help your child grow and THRIVE. 

YOU!

You, that's right, YOU!
You are THE MOST important person on the team!
You are your child's anchor, their comfort, their biggest cheerleader and best advocate.
You are the key to the program we develop being successful.
It takes commitment to learn, to be open minded, and to follow through with recommendations.
We are on the same team, but we cannot do it alone. Eating happens many times a day and it is mostly you at home when this happens. 


​Are you ready to make BIG changes?
Let's Start!

We include all three evaluations as part of our evaluation package.

No need to shop around for the best providers!
​
​We are all working on the same team for you! 

Location

What Our Clients Are Saying

I’ve had such a wonderful experience with Cove Speech Language And Feeding Therapy. They helped my son go from not wanting to put any solid foods even close to his mouth, to trying all sorts of new foods in just a few months. The therapists worked with him on his sensory issues, on self-feeding, and on learning to chew. They were patient and friendly, and through play, made it a very enjoyable experience for my son. I highly recommend this practice to anyone who needs speech and/or feeding therapy. I will never forget how much they helped my son and I am forever grateful to them." -Sheena R.

Contact Us

    Get Tips and Tricks with Our Monthly Newsletter!

Submit
  • 516-669-0434
  • Our Services
    • Social Language
    • Safe and Sound Protocol
    • Foodology Feeding Therapy
    • Speaking & Verbal Expression >
      • Articulation
      • Late Talker Early Intervention Long Island
      • AAC
    • Reading and Literacy
  • About Us
    • Insurance and Payment For Speech Therapy
  • Shop
  • FAQ, Normal Development, and Red Flags
    • Normal Developmental Milestones >
      • 9-12 Months Old
      • 12-18 Months Old
      • 18-24 Months Old
      • 2-2.5 Years Old
      • 2.5-3 Years Old
      • 3-4 Years Old
      • 4-5 Years Old
      • 5-6 Years Old
      • 6-7 Years Old
    • Red Flags
    • What Causes Speech and Language Delay?
    • What is 'Normal' Speech and Language Development?
  • Our Community
  • Resources
    • How To Use Toys For Language Development 0-3
    • Recommended Products