Aim: the purpose of this study is to compare deglutition patterns in children with cerebral palsy and children without neurological problems and to investigate the influence of oral motor dysfunction, quadriplegia and food texture, in the time spent for swallowing. Material and method: Seventy-six children aged 1-5 years participated in the study (57 with cerebral palsy and 19 without neurological problems). Three food textures were examined during children’s snack time: liquid (juice), paste (yogurt) and solid (cracker). Result: The result demonstrates, for the cerebral palsy group, their feeding took up to 15 times longer than normal. The more severe the degree of oral motor dysfunction, the longer was the time spent for swallowing. From the textures studied, paste was the one in which children with cerebral palsy were closer in time to the group without neurological problems. It suggests that there were differences in the time spent for swallowing between the groups.
swallowing; feeding; cerebral palsy
