Over the mealtime grind? You’re not alone, and our Feeding Clinic is here for the journey. Our feeding therapists work with children and families to ignite their curiosity and confidence with food, explore and gradually introduce new foods and create enjoyable mealtime experiences.
Our therapists support and guide families to implement a responsive feeding approach at mealtimes, empowering them to overcome feeding challenges.
Responsive Feeding Therapy is an evidenced-based approach that addresses the root cause/s of your child’s feeding difficulties, not just the surface-level behaviours.
As suggested by Suzanne Even Morris (PhD CCC-SLP), when your child is an extremely picky eater, you may understandably respond with fear and attempts to control. You feel responsible for your child’s nutrition and worry about their development, trying everything to ‘make them eat’. When these efforts don’t work, you may be left feeling hopeless, as though you’ve failed as a parent. You have not failed; it is the feeding strategies driven by fear and control that tend to fail.
Feeding difficulties are common for both neurodiverse children and neurotypical children. They can have a huge impact on a child’s ability to fully participate in the home, school, and other social settings, as well as placing additional stress on the family.
There are a range of common feeding difficulties that could be a sign your child needs assistance with feeding. Some of these include:
If you feel your child and family are struggling at mealtimes and may need help, please reach out to our friendly team today.
Feeding interventions are based on a responsive feeding approach to help children with feeding difficulties, which focuses on intrinsic motivation to eat rather than external motivation.
Responsive feeding includes a child listening to internal cues (hunger and thirst), curiosity related to the food (want to explore or learn more about it), and motivation to learn about the new or previously non-preferred foods. It also focuses on building on a child’s previously learnt skills and previous confidence in learning about the foods.
Our feeding therapists are qualified occupational therapists, speech pathologists, and dietitians, who have completed additional training in feeding.
Leveraging the wide background of knowledge our feeding therapists bring, we are empowered to work as a trans-disciplinary team and take a holistic approach to ensure the best outcome for your child.
We are also able to offer discipline specific feeding support for children experiencing challenges in specific areas:
Our clinic is happy to tailor this to meet your family’s needs.
Our feeding therapists are experienced in supporting children aged 8 months – 12 years old, however our approach is relevant for individuals across the lifespan, and we are happy to provide support across all ages. Contact us for more information about our feeding clinic.
Treatment goals are individualised to each child’s needs, in collaboration with their caregivers and the multidisciplinary treatment team. Typical goals include increasing intrinsic motivation, exploring novel foods for a nutrition balanced diet, building independence and self-care skills, building oral motor and feeding skills, and caregiver training. The comprehensive feeding assessment allows the treatment team to develop realistic and measurable goals with you to track your child’s progress.
NDIS funds from various categories and can be applied to different aspects of the feeding services. Assessment and feeding appointments are able to be charged under the Improved Relationships and Improved Daily Living categories. Nutrition assessments and appointments conducted by Dietitian can be charged under the Improved Daily Living Skills category. Oral motor assessments and appointments with the Speech Pathologist can be charged under the Improved Daily Living Skills category. If no other funding remains, please consult with your planner if the Core Supports category can be charged for feeding assessment.
All new Aruma clients will need to complete the Aruma Referral Form and Consent Form. If your child is already attending services at Aruma, you can speak with your child’s clinician or reception regarding your interest in the feeding services. You will then be provided with a screening packet to complete to provide background information to the feeding team. Once this paperwork is returned to the feeding team, you will be contacted to schedule a comprehensive feeding assessment. The assessment will allow the trans-disciplinary feeding team to determine which service is most suitable for your family. All clients will need to receive medical clearance from their child’s primary provider before participating in the feeding services.
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