Course Description

Infants and children with congenital heart defects (CHD) present with feeding and swallowing challenges secondary to the impact of the underlying cardiac defect or surgical intervention on multiple body systems. Feeding and swallowing development relies on the integration of the neurological, cardiorespiratory and gastrointestinal systems, that when disordered, can result in poor oral motor skill development, dysphagia, oral aversion and parental stress. These challenges can persist into early childhood, requiring a collaborative and multidisciplinary approach to assessment and management starting at infancy through school age. This course will provide the speech pathologist with an overview of congenital heart defects and etiologies of feeding and swallowing disorders in this population. Considerations for feeding and swallowing assessment in the post-surgical infant and child in acute care and outpatient, as well as treatment strategies will be discussed.

Instructor

Speech Pathologist

Hema Desai, MS, CCC-SLP, BCS-S, CLE, NTMTC

Hema Desai, MS, CCC-SLP, BCS-S, CLE, NTMTC is an inpatient speech pathologist at CHOC Children’s Hospital, working with infants and children with feeding and swallowing disorders. She obtained her Bachelor of Science degree at Boston University and Master of Science degree at Emerson College. She has a board certification specialty in swallowing and swallowing disorders (BCS-S) and neonatal touch and massage and is a clinical lactation educator. Hema is a clinical supervisor to graduate students at CHOC, as well as a therapist on the Multidisciplinary Intensive Feeding Program. She has presented at several national cardiac conferences, ASHA conventions and California state conferences, as well as co-authored publications in peer-reviewed journals and co-authored a book chapter. Her professional interests are primarily in pediatric feeding and dysphagia, as well as working with infants with congenital heart defects. She is also co-vice chair of CNNN (Cardiac Newborn Neuroprotective Network), a special interest group of CNOC (Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Outcomes Collaborative) focusing on research and education on feeding and swallowing challenges in children with congenital heart defects.

CEUs

Certificates will be issued verifying participation in two (2) hours of continuing education once a passing grade is received on the quiz. Check with your professional organizations licensing bodies to determine exactly what may be accepted for you. This course is eligible for ASHA’s professional development hour requirements. You will not require ASHA pre-approval for this. See here [https://www.asha.org/certification/FactDef/] for more information. As we are based in Illinois, we are more confident that our events count towards our local organizations (e.g. ILOTA). Our events are not formally submitted through any registry, however if you track your hours independently they may count towards your professional development requirements, and your certificate may stand as proof of your participation. We also submit for credit approval with the Illinois Early Intervention Training Program. This is not required for all states, and may not apply to you. Please refer to your state/local organization for further information regarding CEU requirements and if our events are considered eligible activities by their standards.



Cancellations

Cancellations must be in writing and will incur a $10 fee. If more than 10% of the course has been viewed, we are unable to issue a refund. If the Chicago Feeding Group or speaker should need to remove the course, course fees will be refunded or transferred to another course at the discretion of the participant.