From nearly the moment our children are born, we are concerned about feeding them. Are they getting enough food? Are they eating often enough? For some parents, the concerns can be much more troubling. Why is my child seeming to gag when eating? Why does so much food seem to sit in their mouth? Why do they refuse nearly everything we offer?
At Imagine Pediatrics Therapy, we know there are many reasons a child may have difficulty taking a bottle, breast or spoon, swallowing or chewing, and trying new tastes and textures. These include:
• face or neck muscle weakness
• sensory processing issues
• neurological disorders
• reflux or other digestive problems
• cleft lip or palate
• breathing problems
• Autism Spectrum Disorder
What is feeding therapy?
Your Imagine Pediatrics expert feeding therapist can teaches a child how to eat or to eat a better diet. Depending on your child’s underlying issues, whether sensory, motor, or a combination of both, your therapist will devise a plan for addressing the underlying barriers to your child’s ability to eat an age-appropriate meal.
This plan may include a combination of sensory, motor and behavioral therapies. Your child’s therapist will work to find the correct fit for your child’s challenges.
SOS Approach
The SOS Approach to feeding builds upon the Sequential-Oral-Sensory major components. SOS integrates motor, oral, behavioral/learning, medical, sensory and nutritional factors and approaches to evaluate and manage children with feeding and growth concerns. The SOS feeding therapy approach is based on typical developmental feeding steps, stages, and skills found in children. The overarching theme is to keep mealtime positive. While SOS therapy is beneficial to almost any child with feeding issues, it is particularly helpful for children with nutritional and growth concerns as it focuses on the volume of food consumed.
Beckman Oral Motor Assessment and Intervention
The Beckman Oral Motor Assessment and Intervention Program was developed in 1975 by speech-pathologist Debra Beckman. The Beckman Oral Motor Protocol is an intervention that uses assisted movement and stretch reflexes to activate muscle contraction, build strength, and improve range of motion in the lips, jaw, tongue, and soft palate. It assesses the response to pressure, movement, range, and strength, and variety and control of movement. It is particularly beneficial for children that have difficulty following verbal commands due to motor planning and/or a cognitive deficit. This approach is also a highly effective tool for improving oral motor skills to support speech development.
Food Chaining
Based on the book Food Chaining, this therapy capitalizes on the child’s natural preferences and successful eating experiences – specifically the idea that “we eat what we like”. Food chaining introduces new foods with the same flavors or sensory features as foods that are already preferred by the child, increasing the likelihood that the child will like the new food. A food chain consists of four levels that build upon one another. By following the levels of the food chain, the child will be able to build upon success with minor changes:
Level I maintains and expands current taste and texture preferences
Level II varies the taste and maintains texture
Level III maintains taste and varies texture
Level IV varies both taste and texture
This approach can be especially helpful for children with ASD, working through difficulties with sensory processing.
Eating and drinking are life itself. When your child – at any age – resists eating, drinking or taking a breast or bottle and is not gaining weight, ask your pediatrician about a referral for an evaluation, or contact our office. Feeding therapy at Imagine Pediatrics Therapy can help.
