PURPOSE: to analyze swallowing patterns before and after speech therapy intervention in a group of children with Cerebral Palsy who have dysphagia. METHOD: cross-sectional study, consisting of twenty children with Cerebral Palsy, aged between one and eight years, both genders. We used a clinical history with the family heads and the patients were subjected to functional swallowing assessment before and after speech intervention in a period of three months. RESULTS: slight improvement was noted in the swallowing pattern which consequently brought a better pattern of meals to the patients. CONCLUSION: this study found that the speech intervention in patients with Cerebral Palsy brings as a result an improvement in their usual diet, despite the short treatment period(three months).
Cerebral Palsy; Speech Therapy; Feeding; Children
