Helping Children Meet Their Full Potential Faster
Feeding therapy addresses eating challenges in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), focusing on sensory sensitivities, motor skills, and behavioral issues.
Assessment: Identifies specific feeding challenges, including sensory issues, oral-motor difficulties, and behavioral aspects.
Sensory Integration: Gradual exposure to different textures, tastes, and smells to address sensory sensitivities and expand food preferences.
Oral-Motor Skills Development: Improves skills for chewing and swallowing through targeted exercises and activities.
Behavioral Interventions: Uses positive reinforcement and desensitization to manage food refusal, mealtime tantrums, and selective eating.
Structured Mealtime Environment: Creates a predictable mealtime routine with visual supports to reduce anxiety and promote a positive experience.
Texture Graduation: Introduces various food textures gradually, starting with familiar ones to build tolerance.
Food Play and Exploration: Encourages interactive food activities to make mealtime enjoyable and less intimidating.
Feeding therapy is a collaborative, individualized approach that aims to enhance comfort with eating, broaden food preferences, and improve mealtime behaviors.
Feeding therapy is a specialized approach designed to address eating challenges in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It focuses on overcoming sensory sensitivities, improving motor skills related to eating, and addressing behavioral issues. The therapy aims to enhance a child's comfort with eating, expand food preferences, and improve mealtime behaviors.
Assessment in feeding therapy involves identifying specific challenges a child faces, such as sensory issues, oral-motor difficulties, and behavioral aspects. This comprehensive evaluation helps therapists create a tailored plan to address these issues and support the child's eating habits effectively.
To address sensory sensitivities, feeding therapy uses sensory integration techniques, which involve gradual exposure to different textures, tastes, and smells. This approach helps expand a child's food preferences and reduces discomfort related to sensory experiences during mealtime.
Feeding therapy supports oral-motor skill development through targeted exercises and activities designed to improve chewing and swallowing abilities. These exercises help children develop the necessary skills to handle a variety of food textures and reduce difficulties during mealtime.
Behavioral interventions in feeding therapy include positive reinforcement and desensitization techniques to manage food refusal, mealtime tantrums, and selective eating. These strategies aim to create a more positive mealtime experience and encourage a healthier relationship with food.
