The speech pathologist and management of children with tracheostomies.

Troublesome airway problems necessitating the presence of a tracheostomy for extended periods of time are now not uncommon in children. To date, little attention has been devoted to the communication problems these young patients encounter. Experience with 44 children with tracheostomies, some of whom are ventilator-dependent, at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has enabled us to develop a therapy program that we feel would be useful to other speech professionals treating such patients. The speech pathologist must take an active role in the evaluation and management of these patients and the education of the family and hospital staff. The ultimate goal is to provide communicative and feeding skills to these handicapped children.