Hi there dear. Thanks for writing to the forum. How old is the child now?
My son had issues with chewing and swallowing as well. For him, it had to do with his nervous system. Chewing is actually a motor activity that the brain/nervous system controls. So for my son, the signals from brain through nerves to muscles in the mouth were not functioning properly so he could not really chew well. Then he would gag on the food. And this created a sensation of anxiety. He avoided things that he commonly gagged on such as meat. I had to cut his food into very tiny pieces and sit with him. kids can develop 'gag memory' and it can be hard to overcome so that if the food they've routinely gagged on gets in their mouth, they gag right away subconsciously.
My son saw a feeding specialist. He now still has a little difficulty but managing well. He's 11!!
Other kiddos as infants have great difficulty with feeding. This can indicate that they will have trouble talking as well. It generally is neurologically related and has to do with dyspraxia and muscle control. Occasionally it is an anatomical issue such as being tongue tied.
has the child been evaluated by a physician or specialist? Very important to do this. They will be able to tell you the best course of action. This could include surgery if it is anatomical but otherwise working with a feeding specialist. speech pathologists can actually specialize in eating/feeding issues.
When kids have chewing issues, it is very important to watch for choking. Most kids who can't chew well become spitters and will spit out food they can't chew. Which is much better than choking on it! I would not allow her to eat unsupervised.
good luck
Hi,hope you are ok. Just want to know if it happens with every food? Have you tried other food? Can she communicate well? If yes, have you discussed about it her? How have you been supporting her?