Therapeutic Intervention #1: Food Refusal
Helping Picky Eaters
At The Star Academy, we recognize the challenges that come with food selectivity in children. Case Manager Nicole Gokul and her team recently worked with a child who initially had an extremely limited diet, eating only crunchy foods like rice cakes, chips, popcorn, and biscuits. Through a structured feeding program, the team helped him transition from being unable to touch soft foods to eating a wide variety of meals.
Step 1: Tolerating Touching Soft Foods
The first step in the program was desensitizing him to different textures. Since he could not even tolerate touching soft foods, the team introduced activities where he simply touched foods like spaghetti, mashed potatoes, rice, chicken, and sausages. This gradual exposure helped him become more comfortable with these new textures.
Step 2: Introducing Soft and Blended Foods
Once he could touch soft foods without hesitation, the team moved on to feeding him completely blended meals. To keep him motivated, Mr. Bean was used as a reinforcer during mealtimes. At this stage, all his food was blended to ensure easier acceptance.
Step 3: Gradually Increasing Texture
As he became more tolerant, the team slowly reduced the level of processing in his meals. His food transitioned from completely smooth purees to slightly chunkier textures. With continued encouragement and reinforcement, he progressed to eating regular solid foods.
Step 4: Expanding His Diet
Once he mastered eating solid textures, the next goal was to increase the variety of foods he would eat. Initially, he managed soft foods like rice, vegetables, spaghetti and chicken. Eventually, he moved on to eating solid pieces of sausage, fried chips, nuggets, and even chicken breast. By the end of the program, his diet had expanded significantly, and he was willing to try a variety of foods.
A big congratulations to Nicole Gokul and her team for their dedication to helping this child overcome his feeding challenges and helping picky eaters. Stay tuned for more success stories from The Star Academy!
BEFORE
In the first video, you will see that he required hand-over-hand assistance for every bite. At this stage, he was only tolerating blended food with a smooth consistency. However, he responded well to social praise, which encouraged him to eat the pureed food.
AFTER
In the second video, you will see a remarkable transformation—he is now self-feeding with a fork and eating solid foods that he is able to chew and swallow independently. He has developed the necessary muscle control to move his jaw up and down and side to side, skills he previously struggled with.
