Feeding Therapist in DC for 4 Year Old

[Anonymous]

Looking for recommendations in DC, please for our almost 4 year old who has an extremely limited diet (bagels, PB&J, waffles, and one kind of yogurt). Definite aversion to most foods. Very sensitive gag reflex. Can't look at certain foods without puking. Won't try anything new. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

We are in Montgomery County and my elementary-aged DS is seeing a fabulous feeding therapist right now. She is helping desensitize his super-sensitive gag reflex and he also has an oral motor issue (he is otherwise completely healthy) that causes him to gag with certain textures. She is in Bethesda if you want to travel that far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in Montgomery County and my elementary-aged DS is seeing a fabulous feeding therapist right now. She is helping desensitize his super-sensitive gag reflex and he also has an oral motor issue (he is otherwise completely healthy) that causes him to gag with certain textures. She is in Bethesda if you want to travel that far.

Yes, please, I would love the referral...thanks!

[Anonymous]

Please post—we have similar issue!

[Anonymous]

We are current using Mandy Hart in the Wynngate neighborhood of Bethesda. She is a speech therapist who specializes in all kind of oral motor issues. She saw what was wrong with my son in the first five minutes she saw him and has made amazing progress with him in the last 8 weeks (we just started with her January). My son had chronic ear infections from 18 months to 3 years old that resolved, but he used to have a lot of pain and crackling in his ears when he chewed. He was always a picky eater but he basically stopped chewing properly to avoid the pain and it became an ingrained habit. He reduced all of his foods to things he could eat without truly rotary chewing. Occasionally, he would add a new food, so I was really fooled for awhile to the real extent of the issue. I knew that it was not his choice to really be eating this way and with sleepovers and other events going on, I knew we had to take some more stringent action. It has really been fantastic to see, because he trusts her completely, which is important when you have someone doing exercises that potentially can make you gag! She has an amazing rapport with children (she is also a certified drama therapist, so she incorporates playfulness into a lot of things she does). I highly recommend her for anyone going through this with their child. HTH

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are current using Mandy Hart in the Wynngate neighborhood of Bethesda. She is a speech therapist who specializes in all kind of oral motor issues. She saw what was wrong with my son in the first five minutes she saw him and has made amazing progress with him in the last 8 weeks (we just started with her January). My son had chronic ear infections from 18 months to 3 years old that resolved, but he used to have a lot of pain and crackling in his ears when he chewed. He was always a picky eater but he basically stopped chewing properly to avoid the pain and it became an ingrained habit. He reduced all of his foods to things he could eat without truly rotary chewing. Occasionally, he would add a new food, so I was really fooled for awhile to the real extent of the issue. I knew that it was not his choice to really be eating this way and with sleepovers and other events going on, I knew we had to take some more stringent action. It has really been fantastic to see, because he trusts her completely, which is important when you have someone doing exercises that potentially can make you gag! She has an amazing rapport with children (she is also a certified drama therapist, so she incorporates playfulness into a lot of things she does). I highly recommend her for anyone going through this with their child. HTH

Thank you so much...just called her!