2012 Volume 16 Issue 3 Pages 290-298
We followed the developmental process of oral movement, gross motor skills and self-feeding motivation of two infants with Down Syndrome. Video recorded feeding training scenes were used for assessment.
Case 1: Spoon feeding started at 5 months old before head-up. Sitting skill was acquired at around 1 year 3 months old. Thereafter, the tongue moved in the right and left directions and the jaw was thrust in order to melt snacks. The softness of food determined her oral movement of either sucking or chewing. The tongue moved properly and she could chew at 1 year 9 months old. Self-feeding started at 1 year 7 months old. Exaggerated tongue protrusion lasted for the next 2 years.
Case 2: Spoon feeding started at 6 months old before head-up. Sitting skill was acquired at around 1 year old. Around that time, she blew food, bit spoons, and swallowed the food. The softness of food determined her oral movement, either sucking or chewing. She could chew at 1 year 6 months old. Self-feeding started at 1 year 6 months old. Exaggerated tongue protrusion lasted for the next 2 years.
We found that after sitting both children had bad oral movement until they started to walk and exaggerated tongue protrusion became a habit because of immature lip closure skill, though they both acquired chewing skill. Therefore, lip closure is not essential in order to be able to chew. Self-feeding started at around 1 year 6 months old. It is suggested that in children with mental retardation, bad oral movement may occur before they walk. Therefore it is necessary to start feeding therapy before walking and to introduce indirect therapy as well as teach cooking skills to mothers as a part of daily therapy.
