Does anyone know how they diagnose this? the physical therapist said that nathan has neurological delay, and that may be the cause of his dysphagia.

TIA!

I don't know for sure, but I'm thinking maybe with an MRI. Connor's Dr. wanted him to have an MRI to rule out a neurological reason for his dysphagia. Like I said, I'm not positive but I think that is how they would do it. Let me know what you find out!

Thats what i was thinking also. Here's the report from the AzEIP people:

keep in mind that the came out the 9th of this month.

The physical therapist came out.
The speech therapist came out.

Nathan has neurological delays. he has not connected that Nathan owns his body.
Nathan Stands on his toes :
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i136/trbo_wgn/Foot2.jpg (http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i136/trbo_wgn/Foot2.jpg)


He does that because Nathan Thinks that his TOES are his FOOT, and that's where he should stand.

He has a delayed grab reflex. he should be "grabbing" his toys, and OWNING them. he just uses the "come here" gesture as his "seeing if something is actually there", and THEN grabbing it, if he even grabs it.

Nathan has No spacial concept. The PT sat him on the table, (holding on to him of course) he was SCARED TO DEATH. He had NO idea what was going on. most babies/kids look around them to see what they are on, Nathan just flipped out.

He doesn't sit sturdy for a 9 month old. he's wobbly, and he has NO recognition of "falling over" most babies/toddlers/adults know when they are going to fall, and make an :O face. Nathan doesn't. if you were to try to push Nathan over while sitting (gently) he would NOT push towards you and try to gain his balance again. he falls over.

Nathan has 100% feeding delay.

Nathan has low tone.

He cannot support his body weight at all. He cannot stand on his own. If you were lying on the floor with a baby in front of you, feet towards you, and you were to grab their hands, to make them do a sit up, Nathan uses his ARMS to pull himself up, NOT his belly, like he should be.

Nathan is 9 months tomorrow. He is at at a below 6 month level.

Nathan is below average on everything.

They are going to proscess his info tomorrow:

because tomorrow he turns 9 months
and then he can be "8 months" cronological age
and then he's at a 6 month level
because he would have to be 7 months 29 days if they did it today
and 7 months 29 days isnt too far off of 6 months

So to get the most impact from the state, that the ladies said today that he NEEDS, that they will be doing all of his paperwork tomorrow.

My 11 month old has dysphagia, neurological origin. She is tube fed and in feeding therapy weekly. They came to the conclusion of a 'neurological origin' with Taryn when, after visiting an ENT, they found no structural reason why she has dysphagia.
Basically, how explained to me in 'mom's terms', the brain has yet to figure out how to send the message that food is entering the throat and the 'flap' to the lungs need to close. Also, Taryn is unable to clear her throat, food gets stuck in pocket. Taryn had to be suctioned when younger, actually spoke of Trache, she was so severely inhibited by dyshpagia she was unable to swallow her own secretions(swallow, spit)we had to suction her regularly. She was born, 'normal', breastfeed for three weeks until problem discovered. 11 months later we are trying pureed baby foods(albeit, minute amounts)but dysphagia specialist we see feels there is no reason she will not eat some day. So, hang in there. Taryn was a child who aspirated on her own saliva, and now, after months of giving her airway time to machure, we are starting solids.
Realizing this is becoming too medical of a response, let me know if I can help.
Susan---Taryn's mother

My 11 month old has dysphagia, neurological origin. She is tube fed and in feeding therapy weekly. They came to the conclusion of a 'neurological origin' with Taryn when, after visiting an ENT, they found no structural reason why she has dysphagia.
Basically, how explained to me in 'mom's terms', the brain has yet to figure out how to send the message that food is entering the throat and the 'flap' to the lungs need to close. Also, Taryn is unable to clear her throat, food gets stuck in pocket. Taryn had to be suctioned when younger, actually spoke of Trache, she was so severely inhibited by dyshpagia she was unable to swallow her own secretions(swallow, spit)we had to suction her regularly. She was born, 'normal', breastfeed for three weeks until problem discovered. 11 months later we are trying pureed baby foods(albeit, minute amounts)but dysphagia specialist we see feels there is no reason she will not eat some day. So, hang in there. Taryn was a child who aspirated on her own saliva, and now, after months of giving her airway time to machure, we are starting solids.
Realizing this is becoming too medical of a response, let me know if I can help.
Susan---Taryn's mother

Minus the people you are seeing, and the suctioning, and tube fed, i could of written that post. Nathan aspirates his saliva, he's 9 months old, and has YET to start solids. he HATES things in his mouth. he wont even put a TOY in there. However his fingers are alright i guess. Its interesting to see kids with the same thing, have different ways around it. We have our next MBS in december and i SO hope that he shows little (as much as he can) of improvement. he's on the thickest for an infant. the feeding therapist said she's never seen a kid on 2 packets of honey viscosity, per 4 oz.

Thanks again, and i'll update after we have our 9 month visit with our ped. :)

I am so glad to hear results came back 'normal'. Sorry for just responding; we were out of town for almost a month-dad was away with Navy and we went to visit family in Boston.
Again, thank you for the update, any more luck with solids? Happy New Year, Susan