Pediatric feeding disorders (PFDs) involve “impaired oral intake that is not age-appropriate and is associated with medical, nutritional, feeding skill, and/or psychosocial dysfunction” (Goday et al., 2019). These disorders often manifest as refusing age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate foods or liquids, a restricted variety or quantity of foods or liquids, displaying disruptive or inappropriate mealtime behaviors for developmental levels, failing to master self-feeding skills expected for developmental levels, failing to use developmentally appropriate feeding devices and utensils, and experiencing less than optimal growth or failure to thrive (Arvedson, 2008).

Children with feeding disorders are typically classified as "picky eaters" because they usually eat a limited number of foods and often show signs of fear or anxiety, and may display behaviors such as gagging or vomiting, when new foods are introduced. These children may display delayed sensory and oral motor skills for feeding, chewing, and swallowing. For example, being hypo aware of food and drink in their mouths resulting in large bite sizes, the pocketing of food & drink in the buccal cavities, disordered chewing, and reduced bolus management or control which can result in dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), aspiration of food and drink, and gastrointestinal issues such as acid reflux or GERD.

At Not Too Little Speech Therapy, our therapists are trained in several feeding methods including the SOS Approach to Feeding. We take a play-based whole family approach which is aimed at desensitizing children to new foods and drinks while improving their oral motor skills for safe chewing, bolus management, and swallowing. We are proud to share that our therapists are currently receiving direct ongoing training from some of the top pediatric feeding specialists in the world.