Anais A. Villaluna, MS, CCC-SLP, BCS-S, CLC

Personal Statement

My philosophy of care focuses on improving patient outcomes through interdisciplinary collaboration with other providers as well as patients and their families. In my time at Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, I have partnered with the gastroenterology section to establish a Multidisciplinary Feeding Clinic in collaboration with gastroenterology, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, and nutrition to address the needs of patients and families navigating complex feeding and swallowing disorders. I have also partnered with the otolaryngology section to establish a Collaborative Dysphagia Clinic, which provides additional options for instrumental swallow examination when medically indicated for the purposes of dysphagia management. Through collaborative care, our team is able to identify and treat the underlying medical and developmental factors contributing to or associated with a child’s feeding and/or swallowing disorder as well as the feeding/swallowing disorder utilizing the most comprehensive diagnostic and treatment strategies.

Clinical Interests:

Feeding and swallowing disorders, developmental delays/cerebral palsy, food refusal, feeding tube weaning, neurological etiology of dysphagia, structural airway abnormalities that contribute to dysphagia in children, airway protection and dysphagia, picky eating, tracheostomy, uncertain cause of dysphagia, clinical swallow examination, fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing, instrumental examinations, videofluoroscopic examination.

Research Interests:

Standardization of thickened liquids in the pediatric population, feeding therapy strategies and interventions, fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing, videofluoroscopic examination, structural airway abnormalities that contribute to dysphagia in children. 

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* Texas Children’s Hospital physicians’ licenses and credentials are reviewed prior to practicing at any of our facilities. Sections titled From the Doctor, Professional Organizations and Publications were provided by the physician’s office and were not verified by Texas Children’s Hospital.