Development of a Child with Long-Lasting Deprivation of Oral Feeding

Observations of a patient who was not fed by mouth until the age of 3 3/4 years demonstrated decreased oral exploratory behavior, delayed gross motor development, shallow relatedness, lack of motivation and intentionality, and absence of pleasure in gross motor accomplishments, as has been described in other similarly affected children. In addition, this patient showed a striking lack of pleasure of his overall functioning and long-lasting difficulty in learning to eat. It appears that the longer the oral deprivation is maintained, the more severe is its impact on development. Pleasure in this patient's overall functioning emerged only after pleasurable oral intake of food was established.