Feeding Therapy

Feeding Therapy at Foundations

At Foundations feeding therapy is provided by both speech and occupational therapists, depending on the primary underlying issues impacting your child’s ability to eat a wide variety of nutritious foods. All of our feeding therapists utilize the SOS Approach to Feeding, which is a nationally and internationally recognized, research based approach for assessing and treating individuals with feeding difficulties. We place a heavy emphasis on parent education so that you can provide the support your child needs in the home environment, where a majority of eating happens! The SOS Approach addresses feeding challenges as the tip of the iceberg and focuses on identifying and addressing the underlying causes, thus feeding sessions also include movement and sensory based interventions to support your child being in the just right state prior to entering the clinic’s kitchen. Then, your child will interact with food in a playful and non-stressful way with the therapist helping to empower your child to gain confidence in their ability to explore and identify properties of a wide range of foods.

Using the SOS Approach to feeding, our occupational and speech therapists will teach children and parents how to:

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• Help your children explore foods through play and move through the steps to eating, which go beyond picking up the item and placing it into your mouth.

• Gradually increase your child’s tolerance to new foods in their environment, on their plate, in their hands and eventually, into their mouths!

• Debunk common myths and misconceptions about eating. 

• Learn empowering terminology around how to describe foods to help children talk about foods in an objective way vs. subjective way. 

• Break habits at home and cues that have developed within the mealtime routines that are hindering eating habits. 

• Identify and respond to your children’s signals around foods in a positive and reassuring way. 

• Making mealtimes fun versus becoming a power struggle.