ERI Faculty, Erin Ross publishes Paper:
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Erin Ross, a speech language pathologist and Education Resources, Inc. faculty recently co-authored a paper describing her successful oral feeding of preterm and other ill and fragile infants, based on the SOFFI (“Supporting Oral Feeding in Fragile Infants”) method. This method utilizes sensitive, ongoing assessment of an infant’s physiology and behavior, requires knowledgeable decisions that support immediate and long-term enjoyment of food, and competent skill in feeding. Therapists, nurses and parents can use the SOFFI method to increase the likelihood of feeding success in the population of infants at risk for feeding problems that emerge in infancy and extend into the preschool years. It stresses the quality of the feeding rather than the quantity, so that feeding skills develop pleasurably and at the infant’s own pace. Once physiologic organization and behavioral skills are established, an affinity for feeding and the ingestion of sufficient quantity occur naturally.
She teaches this highly successful method in her course: Feeding the Most Fragile: From NICU to Early Intervention
Clinicians: Please share your experiences using the SOFFI approach
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