Hallie Bulkin explains why kids with breathing problems can't make progress in feeding therapy. Enlarged tonsils and a low-forward tongue posture block the airway, and until that clears, comfort scales and food chaining won't work.
And I realized if this kid can't breathe, then we're not going to progress that far with feeding therapy. So what ended up happening was I was addressing the ARFID. I was working with the comfort scale, the food helpers, food chaining, SOS, incorporating all these different techniques into my practice. And then mom and I and my supervisor were talking about how the tonsils are enlarged. Mm-hmm. His tongue is pushing low and forward. We need to be able to breathe first. If we're struggling to breathe, then everything else that comes after is going to collapse. Breathing is that foundation. If we can't do that, we're not gonna see much progress anywhere else.
What I Was Missing in Feeding Therapy: ARFID, Airway, and Myo with Samy Hernandez
