Hypoxia and Medicine

What is the medical term for the condition wherein a child cannot chew or suck any thing?

This question is in regards to some peculiar symptoms I have observed in my 4 year old niece. My first reaction as has been everybody else was to ignore this. But I think now it would not be appropriate to ignore as it is affecting adversely her health. From the very birth she has not been able to suck any thing. Even now she cannot chew or suck food or any liquid material. She has to be forcefully fed food directly into her throat without any chewing. With the result she has developed no taste for food including that of chocolate etc. She has grown quite weak. I had some time back read something about this condition but I am not able to trace that out. Is it a medically recognized symptoms/affliction? If so what is the treatment and if somebody can suggest some doctor in India/Canada that will be very helpful. Since she is in India where medical facilities cannot be termed excellent, the doctors have said that she will automatically learn to chew but i am not sure of that.

Public Comments

1. Sounds like cleft palette. There is a ton of information on the web and it is medically cure-able with surgery