Feeding & Swallowing

Evelyn graduated from La Trobe University, Australia with a Bachelors in Speech Pathology (first class honours) in 2010. She has more than 8 years of experience working at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH), specialising in the area of feeding and swallowing management for the neonatal and paediatric populations. Having worked very closely with the medical and nursing teams at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and Special Care Nursery (SCN), Evelyn has a special passion and heart for the preterm infants she sees. She finds it extremely rewarding to work with and support caregivers on their challenging journeys to develop safe, functional and pleasurable feeding experiences for their infants.

During her years as team leader of the neonatal team, Evelyn was involved in reviewing multiple feeding pathways and workflows in the NICU and SCN to continuously improve service delivery and patient care. She also played an inaugural role in initiating, planning and implementing new feeding training programs and pathways, such as training neonatal nurses to equip them with essential feeding skills to support infants in the nurseries. Evelyn also has a keen interest in oro-motor therapy for the paediatric population and has had the opportunities to work with and provide intervention for many children who experience difficulties with accepting solids, chewing and drooling.

Evelyn had the experience working with many medical and allied health professionals in various multidisciplinary feeding services within the organisation, including the feeding clinic with the dietitian, premmie feeding clinic with the neonatologist and dietitian, gastro feeding clinic with the gastenterologist and dietitian, and the neuromuscular clinic with the neurologist and respiratory physician. Evelyn was a key work member in the neonatal and paediatric homecare clinics for patients with tracheostomy, ventilatory support and other complex medical diagnoses. She has also provided clinical education to other speech therapists within the team in the areas of neonatal and paediatric dysphagia, and oro-motor therapy.

Specialising in this area has made Evelyn more aware and empathetic of the challenges caregivers may constantly face when feeding their children with feeding and/or swallowing difficulties. She aspires to use her knowledge and clinical experience to help and support these children and their caregivers in their journeys to make feeding fun and enjoyable again.

Evelyn is trained in:

• Talktools: A Three-Part Treatment Plan for Oral Placement Therapy

• S.O.S. (Sequential Oral Sensory) Approach to Feeding

• M.O.R.E.: Integrating the Mouth with Sensory and Postural Functions

• Feeding Therapy: A Sensory-motor Approach