Signs:

• Difficulty chewing or swallowing,
• Refusal of certain textures,
• Gagging,
• excessive drooling,
• pocketing food,
• food aversion,
• sensory sensitivity,
• limited diet,
• Longer mealtime
• mealtime stress.

Who Needs It:

Children with picky eating, sensory feeding challenges, oral-motor delays, food aversion, or medical conditions (e.g., reflux, autism, Down syndrome, prematurity, tongue/lip tie, neurological disorders) that impact feeding and nutrition.

Therapy Includes:

A multidisciplinary team approach involving speech-language pathologists, and occupational therapists, and behavioral therapists to address oral-motor, sensory, and behavioral feeding challenges.

It follows the SOS (Sequential Oral Sensory) Approach to Feeding, which helps children explore new foods gradually in a play-based, pressure-free manner.

Therapy may also include oral-motor exercises, sensory desensitization, mealtime strategies, and parent coaching to create a positive feeding experience.

Benefits:

• Expands food acceptance,
• improves chewing and swallowing safety,
• enhances oral-motor coordination,
• reduces mealtime anxiety,
• fosters a more enjoyable and stress-free relationship with food.