Why do children with physical disability have problems with mealtimes?
Difficulties with eating and drinking can be caused by: • Neurological problems, for example, cerebral palsy • Congenital syndromes • Disorders of the stomach and intestine, for example, gastro-oesophageal reflux • The child’s behaviour • The level of disability of the child • Problems with development, growth and/or the anatomy of the mouth and neck • Difficulties with the child being able to feed themselves • Difficulties using the muscles needed for eating and swallowing • The way the child is positioned • Any tendency for the child to have food enter the wind-pipe and/or lungs instead of the stomach Oral Eating and Drinking Factsheet 01 – Normal Swallowing (PDF – 170kb) Oral Eating and Drinking Factsheet 02 – Swallowing Disorders (PDF – 75kb) Oral Eating and Drinking Factsheet 03 – Choking and coughing (PDF – 106kb) Top of page contents
