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Discover how therapists assess and design therapy plans for feeding and swallowing challenges in infants under 12 months.

This online microcredential explores how preterm birth and medical conditions affect eating, feeding, swallowing and behavioural organization in young children.

You'll gain an understanding of how oral motor and feeding skills develop in premature infants, newborns and babies up to one year old.

Learn about common conditions that impact feeding and swallowing and how to create effective therapy interventions tailored to each infant's needs.

You’ll also put theory into practice by developing an assessment and therapy plan for oral feeding and swallowing skills. These plans will support the growth of feeding and swallowing abilities in a nurturing and responsive way.

Now registering for the course running September 22 - October 31, 2025

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Course Goals

This course is designed to provide you with a base of knowledge in the roles a feeding therapist plays in the multidisciplinary context of an eating, feeding, and swallowing team. You will develop an understanding of common conditions that affect newborns, their impact on development, feeding, and swallowing, and approaches to assessment and treatment.

Course Hours

The microcredential is approximately 1 credit equivalent (13 content hours).  However, you should expect to spend somewhere between 18-35 total hours on the course (varies depending on the individual). We do equate the course on the high end of that and 35 educational hours appear on the digital certificates that are issued after course completion

Course learning objectives

• Discuss the major milestones in the development of body systems involved in feeding and the impact of preterm birth.
• Identify infant behaviours and what they communicate.
• Explain how to provide responsive interventions for positive feeding experiences.
• Understand the development of oral motor and feeding skills in infants born premature, neonates, and at various stages from birth through 12 months.
• Describe common conditions across body systems and their impact on eating, feeding, and swallowing in the developing infant.
• Discuss the foundational skills for infant feeding.
• Clinically evaluate infant eating, feeding, and swallowing skills.
• Discuss supportive strategies to optimize feeding for infants at risk.
• Discuss strategies supporting families to recognize their infants’ cues, build reciprocal interactions, and establish positive feeding relationships.
• Apply theory learning to practical case study examples.

Course Instructor

Julia Giesen, MSc. SLP, R.SLP, S-LP(C) is a speech-language pathologist with 14 years of clinical practice working with pediatric patients in their homes, community programs, rehabilitation, and acute care settings. She previously worked as a clinical educator in the department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the º£½ÇÉçÇø and is an Assistant Lecturer, teaching the elective course “SLP in the NICU”. She currently works as a feeding and swallowing specialist in the Stollery Children’s Hospital’s Philip C. Etches Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). She is certified as a NIDCAP professional (the Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program) and as an instructor for Family and Infant Neurodevelopmental Education (FINE).  She draws on this learning to coach families and NICU staff in providing developmentally supportive, responsive care for infants.

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