Helping Infants/Children to Eat a Variety of Foods & Textures
What is a Selective/Restrictive Eater?
- A Selective (picky) eater is a child who eats 20-30 foods in 3 areas (proteins, fruits/vegetables, carbohydrates)
- A Restricitve (problem) eater is a child who eats
- We prefer the term, Eating Challenges, to describe the difficulties our clients face
- Other terms include: Food Neophobia, Infantile Anorexia, Picky/Problem/Selective/Restrictive Eater
- Our experience shows that most children with eating challenges have a combination of difficulties: medical history (reflux, food allergies, illness, a significant food “event”), ORAL MOTOR difficulties (stability, control, coordination, and dissociation of the jaw, lips, tongue), sensory challenges (the look, touch/texture, smell, taste of foods), & resultant behavioral challenges including anxiety concerning foods
Services Available:
- In-depth Eating & Oral Motor Evaluations for Eating or Swallowing Challenges
- Therapy for Infants, Toddlers, Preschoolers, Elementary-aged and Older Children
- Therapy for Adults
- Training/Coaching for Parents or Care Givers
- Help Me Eat classes/groups for any age
- Help Me Eat summer camp
Therapy Techniques including:
- Our Help Me Eat program—a combination of—
- Our skilled approach based on our 20 years of experience and knowledge
- Kay Toomey’s SOS (Sequential Oral Sensory) approach to feeding
- Food Chaining
- Suzanne Evans Morris’ Mealtime strategies
- Structured oral placement exercises (Talk Tools hierarchies)
- Beckman stretches
- Training for parents in how to conduct therapy meals at home
Therapy for the Following Needs:
- Expanding the variety of foods accepted by a person with eating challenges
- Normalize sensory skills that support eating
- Parent/ family training in carryover techniques for home
- Support/teach techniques for difficult breastfeeding
- Assist with bottle drinking
- Teach general feeding skills
- Overcome swallowing difficulties
- Learn to eat textured foods
- Transition from the bottle to the cup
- Drink from a straw
- Eliminate pacifier and thumb sucking dependency
- Transition from feeding tubes to oral feeding
- Swallowing safety
