FEEDING THERAPY

 

Having a positive relationship with food is vital to leading a healthy lifestyle. If this is a struggle for your child, our occupational therapist Kara can help!

Who Can Benefit

A feeding evaluation may be helpful to your child if they experience any of the following:

  • Limited food repertoire (selective or “picky” eating - less than 20 foods)

  • Strong preference for certain foods

  • Limited intake of food

  • Food-related meltdowns at mealtime

  • Oral-sensory challenges (issues with texture, color, smell of food)

  • Oral-motor challenges (overstuffing the mouth , drooling, etc.)

By identifying the root cause of your child’s difficulties with food, Kara can develop treatment recommendations to help your child get back on track to a happy, healthy approach to eating!

What to Expect

Feeding evaluations are offered as a 60-minute session. You may be asked to bring with you certain foods and beverages from home, so that your child can be observed while eating and drinking items that are familiar to them. During the evaluation, Kara will assess the following:

  • Your child’s birth, health, medical and familial history

  • Oral structures

  • Oral-motor skills

  • Oral-sensory skills

  • Sensory processing skills

  • Postural stability and mealtime setup

  • Motor skills

  • Food intake

After the evaluation, you will receive a detailed report that includes your child’s scores on the standardized assessments, a summary of Kara’s findings, and her recommendations for treatment. This report is usually delivered within 3 weeks of the evaluation date.

If feeding therapy is appropriate for your child, follow-up sessions are available (availability permitting) here in the Parker Place office.

OUR APPROACH

Like all our providers and practitioners here at Parker Place, Kara employs a holistic model of evaluation and treatment, which takes into consideration the “whole child” and how to best meet their needs. Our feeding program utilizes research-backed therapy approaches, including the SOS Approach to Feeding, to help children learn to eat by exploring the different properties of food in a playful and non-stressful way. Children and teens are guided to engage with foods through the “Steps of Eating” and families are provided with several resources and strategies to support them well beyond therapy. Force-feeding and pressure around mealtimes are never promoted; rather, Kara follows your child’s cues to determine what pace is best.

RATES & SCHEDULING

You can view Kara’s accepted insurances here. If she is out-of-network with your insurance, and/or you prefer to pay out-of-pocket, her rates are as follows:

  • Feeding evaluation (including 55-minute assessment & full report with findings:) $320.00

  • Follow-up sessions (including 55 minutes of one-on-one feeding therapy): $160.00

Feeding evaluations & therapy sessions are available in the Parker Place office. If you are interested in setting up a session, please submit the short contact form below, and a member of our team will reach out to you to discuss scheduling and answer your questions!