Teach Me to Eat

The owners of The Pediatric Feeding Institute of South Florida have created Teach Me to Eat with the goal of making mealtimes enjoyable through therapist and parent education. The creators aim to promote fun and successful therapy sessions by creating a line of feeding therapy tools, parent and therapist educational resources, and more!

Meet the Therapists

Andrea and Taylor together launched the first intensive feeding program in South Florida. They teach post-masters continuing education courses on topics related to pediatric feeding disorders and dysphagia, as well as have developed a line of feeding therapy tools for professionals to use to promote successful and fun therapy sessions

Andrea Alifano, MS, CCC-SLP: Owner/Lead Feeding Therapist

Speech language pathologist and feeding specialist received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Florida in 2000 and continued her education at New York Medical College where she received a Master of Science degree in Speech Language Pathology in 2002. Andrea has worked in various settings including; acute care/NICU, sub-acute care, outpatient rehab, private practice, and early intervention in the natural environment setting. Andrea’s primary focus is the assessment and treatment of pediatric feeding and swallowing disorders. She is a member of the American Speech Language-Hearing Association and holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence. The majority of Andrea’s postmasters education and clinical practice has focused on oral motor feeding topics such as; the Beckman Oral Motor Assessment and Treatment Protocol, sensory integration disorders, and oral sensory feeding disorders as well as pediatric dysphagia. Andrea is certified in Vital Stimulation and the Sequential Oral Sensory Approach to Feeding. She has provided clinical supervision for speech pathology students and completed several in staff training sessions on various pediatric feeding and dysphagia topics.

Taylor Thomas, MA, CCC-SLP: Owner/Lead Feeding Therapist

Speech language pathologist and feeding specialist graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2004 with a Bachelors of Arts in Communication Sciences and Disorders and went on to complete her Masters degree in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Maryland from 2004-2006. Her interest in pediatric feeding and swallowing therapy began while in graduate school, where she completed her internship at Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital’s interdisciplinary intensive feeding and swallowing program. This is where her passion for working with children with a variety of feeding and swallowing disorders began.

Since this time, she has focused her career on helping children fulfill their potential for health, nutrition, and functional sensory-motor feeding skills, as well as helping families make feedings fun and pleasurable.

Since 2006, Taylor has practiced in a variety of medical pediatric settings, including inpatient, NICU, and outpatient hospital setting, private practice clinical setting, and in home/natural environment. Her areas of specialized clinical practice include oral motor, sensory-motor, and behavioral feeding disorders, oral pharyngeal dysphagia, neuromotor development, neonatal ICU development, motor speech disorders, Early Intervention and pediatric video-swallow studies. She is certified in Pediatric VitaI Stimulation, the Neonatal Oral Motor Assessment Scale, the Beckman Oral Motor Assessment and the Sequential Oral Sensory Approach to Feeding, as well as completed several additional courses in feeding and swallowing disorders and NICU.

Mealtime with Miko the Monkey

The Mealtime with Miko the Monkey series was created by feeding therapists, Taylor Thomas and Andrea Scida of the Pediatric Feeding Institute of Florida to help their patients overcome their feeding-related fears and challenges in a fun, relatable and colorful way!

Join the lovable character Miko in feeding therapy as he learns how to eat through use of various techniques used every day by speech pathologists, occupational therapists, and parents! They worked with artist Patrick Laurent to create the Miko character and his colorful world to develop books that inspire, entertain, and support children and parents alike.

Miko The Monkey 🐒

“Miko Learns to Chew” is an engaging and educational children’s book designed to teach young readers the steps of learning how to chew. With colorful illustrations, rhyming, and a fun, easy-to-follow storyline, “Miko Learns to Chew” is the perfect addition to any child’s bookshelf.

NOW AVAILABLE!

Miko Learns to Be Brave

(Miko Feeding Therapy)

Miko the monkey is afraid to try new foods. But with the help of his feeding therapist, he quickly learns that there are fun ways to make trying new foods a little easier! When he can focus on things like shapes, textures, and colors, he discovers that he is braver than he thought. Hooray for Miko!