Meet our Speakers

Danielle R. Griffin, MS OTR/L, BCP, CKTP, CEIM is a pediatric occupational therapist with 18 years of clinical experience. Ms. Griffin is employed at Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital for Rehabilitation, actively volunteers for Feeding Matters, and is the outgoing Peds SIS Co-Coordinator for OOTA. She is also the founder of carrOT, an educational resource for occupational therapy practitioners and families of children with PFD.

She is board certified in pediatrics by AOTA. Ms. Griffin has completed significant continuing education on the topic of pediatric feeding disorder, including Beckman Oral Motor Assessment and Treatment, Food Chaining, and Sequential Oral Sensory Approach.

Bailey Peters, OTD, OTR/L is an occupational therapist and educator with specialized experience in pediatric feeding and swallowing. She previously served as a Feeding Therapist in the Intensive Feeding Program at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, where she worked with medically complex children across various intensive care units. Dr. Peters now brings her clinical expertise to academia, serving as the Doctoral Capstone Coordinator at The Ohio State University, where she guides the next generation of occupational therapy practitioners.

Amanda Somerville, MOT, OTR/L, BCP, CLC is a Clinical Leader in Developmental Occupational Therapy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. As a Board-Certified Pediatric Specialist and Certified Lactation Counselor, she is a key resource in pediatric feeding, eating, and swallowing. Her role includes mentoring therapy fellows, leading staff training on feeding competencies, and serving on interdisciplinary committees to advance clinical practice in this specialty area.

Kara Jordan, MOT, OTR/L is a Feeding Therapist in the Comprehensive Pediatric Feeding Program at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, where she specializes in the intensive feeding track. With over 16 years of experience at the same institution, she focuses on evaluating and treating children with complex medical and feeding histories.

Kara is actively involved in evidence-based practice and has presented nationally on occupational therapy’s vital role in transdisciplinary, intensive feeding programs.

Michelle Emanuel, OTR/L, IBCLC, NBCR, CST, CIMI, RYT200 has 29+ years experience as a Pediatric Occupational Therapist, with specific focus on posture, movement and connection for the newborn to precrawling baby. She worked at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center for 17.5 years before moving into full time private practice. Michelle has a background in neonatal intensive care, pediatric intensive care, cardiac intensive care, high risk infant follow up clinic, feeding team, outpatient and private practice populations. She has developed several novel curriculums for therapists including TummyTime! Method, BabyMyo and ANS Therapeutics. In addition to being an OT, Michelle is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, Myofunctional Therapist and National Board Certified Reflexologist. She has a unique and interesting way of blending traditional and complementary forms of therapeutic applications, with her main emphasis on facilitating autonomic regulation and healthy nervous system function.

Symposium Educational Sessions

Learning Objectives:

Course participants will:

    1. Demonstrate ability to identify the presence and absence of age appropriate oral motor skills.
    2. When observing a meal time, identify possible aversive responses to tactile, gustatory and olfactory stimulus.
    3. Identify signs of dysregulation, and correlating sensory interventions to improve mealtime participation.
    4. Thoroughly complete parent interview, including assessment of typical routines and food repertoire.

Course Description Coming Soon!

Learning Objectives:

  1. Participants will compare the advantages and disadvantages of commonly chosen intervention settings for PFD: clinic-based, school-based, home-based, and virtual.
  2. Participants will examine outcomes reported in recent peer-reviewed publications for children with PFD and their associated intervention settings.
  3. Participants will discuss strategies to “unite” providers across settings and systems to provide comprehensive care.

Content Level: Intermediate

Practice Area: Children and Youth

Occupational therapy practitioners working in a variety of pediatric settings encounter children with diagnosed pediatric feeding disorders (PFD), avoidant resistive for intake disorder (ARFID), or feeding difficulties. Many clinicians, especially those treating in rural communities, feel underprepared to work with this client population.

While there are many hospital-based programs throughout the state of Ohio, many families lack adequate transportation, financial means, or live too far away to access these programs. Hospital-based programs also typically have lengthy wait lists.

This presentation aims to examine the pros and cons of intervention settings, looking specifically at clinics, schools, homes, and virtual programs. Course participants will discuss and compare reported outcomes for each setting to determine the efficacy of intervention in each.

The goal is to look to the literature to determine whether or not alternative settings, such as virtual based programs, are equally successful in the treatment of pediatric feeding disorder when compared to hospital-based and clinic programs. As we compare the disadvantages reported for each setting, we will discuss strategies to connect providers across settings in hopes to reduce these clinical burdens in the future.

Course participants will leave this presentation with increased understanding of current literature in the field of pediatric feeding disorder and strategies to collaborate outside their own work setting.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Define feeding, eating, and swallowing as distinct yet complementary occupations of early childhood.
  2. Outline the scope of occupational therapy practitioners, respective to treating children with feeding, eating, and swallowing difficulties.
  3. Review developmental feeding and eating milestones of early childhood.
  4. Present clinical and instrumental assessment approaches, highlighting evidenced-based considerations.
  5. Discuss common performance deficits limiting participation in mealtime occupations and respective treatment approaches.

Content Level: Introductory

Practice Area: Children and Youth

Occupational therapy practitioners (OTPs) are distinctly positioned to address a wide range of challenges related to mealtime occupations experienced by young children and their caregivers. In addition to self-feeding, OTPs are qualified to assess and treat concerns with eating and swallowing, broadly defined as “keeping and manipulating food or liquid in the mouth,” and “moving food from the mouth to the stomach,” respectively (AOTA, 2025).

While the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework, 4th ed. lists feeding, eating, and swallowing as distinct activities of daily living that fall within OT scope, there is a need to support OTPs with confidently addressing mealtime occupational participation and performance concerns beyond self-feeding, across pediatric settings (AOTA, 2020; Clark & Kingsley, 2020).

The purpose of this presentation is to empower OTPs to holistically and comprehensively address feeding, eating, and swallowing impairments when working with young children and their caregivers. The presenter will review the distinct and complementary occupations of early childhood, outline the scope of OTPs within this patient population, describe developmental feeding and eating milestones of early childhood, present clinical and instrumental assessment approaches through an evidence-based lens, and discuss common performance deficits and treatment approaches respective to mealtime occupations. Additionally, many opportunities arise for close interprofessional collaboration when supporting young children with feeding, eating, and swallowing needs. This presentation will also identify opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration in this area of practice while and highlight the distinct role of the OTP as a vital member of the team.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to:

  1. Explain the role of an occupational therapist in a pediatric transdisciplinary intensive feeding program.
  2. Name 3 intervention strategies to incorporate into their practice for children with pediatric feeding disorders.

Content Level: Intermediate

Practice Area: Children and Youth

Chronic feeding disorders in children, such as Pediatric Feeding Disorder and Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, are often complicated by medical conditions, feeding skill delays, nutrition deficiencies, and/or psychosocial and behavioral factors that result in restrictive food intake (Estrem et al., 2025). Expert consensus recommends a multidisciplinary approach to assessment and intervention for best outcomes (Sharp, et al., 2020; Bandstra et al., 2020; Sharp, Volkert, & Raol, 2022).

At Nationwide Children’s Hospital, our Intensive Feeding Program team treats children with complex feeding difficulties to manage these interrelated problems using transdisciplinary and evidence-based treatment approaches. We partner with and empower families in order to improve meals, development, and quality of life.

Our intensive outpatient protocol includes three meals per day, five days per week, for six to eight weeks. Our transdisciplinary team consists of occupational therapists, speech language pathologists, psychologists, social work, medical providers, dietitians, nurses, and a child development specialist.

This course will describe in detail the occupational therapist’s role as a feeding therapist in the program, including specific assessments, intervention strategies, cultural considerations, and practices we utilize in our unique program.

Occupational therapists in our program make recommendations for optimal positioning for mealtime, ensure safe oral intake of foods and liquids in the least restrictive manner, utilize appropriate delivery methods of food and drink, determine appropriate textures for the child’s skill level, implement exercise routines tailored to each child’s specific oral motor needs, and practice advancing textures and chewing skills as appropriate.

Participants who treat children with feeding difficulties will reflect on the application of assessments and treatment strategies in their practice setting.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Participant will compare typical vs nontypical aspects of awake and sleeping oral rest posture in newborn to precrawling infants
  2. Participant will list top 5 postural deviations seen in the precrawling infant population
  3. Participant will describe 1 way to optimize oral rest posture in the newborn to precrawling infant

Content Level: Introductory

Practice Area: Emerging Practice Area

Myofunctional therapy is a therapeutic approach focusing on optimizing the function of the muscles involved in oral, facial, and respiratory development. For infants, early intervention through myofunctional therapy can significantly impact their craniofacial growth and development, particularly in areas such as feeding, breathing, and facial structure.

This therapy addresses suboptimal oral habits, such as open mouth posture, low tongue position, mouth breathing or tongue thrusting, that can lead to other functional difficulties and even later orthodontic issues. By equipping infants with proper tongue and lip positioning, oral rest posture while awake and sleeping, this therapy approach therapy supports optimal neuromuscular function, ensuring proper function and formation of the mouth, teeth, and mandible

For infants, myofunctional therapy often involves exercises parents easily incorporate into their daily routines. These exercises focus on strengthening the orofacial muscles, encouraging nasal breathing, and fostering a healthy suck/swallow/breathe pattern. Early intervention is crucial because it prevents the development of dysfunctional habits that may affect the child’s health and developmental trajectory.

Myofunctional therapy for infants offers a proactive solution for promoting healthy oral function and development, addressing potential issues before they manifest into more serious concerns. By supporting optimal function and growth during infancy, professionals and parents can pave the way for a lifetime of improved health and well-being for our little humans.

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