Helping Families Support Feeding Therapy in the Home
Featured article: “Evaluation of MealSense: A Sensory Integration-Based Feeding Support Program for Parents,” by Audrey Trewin, Zoe Mailloux, Roseann C. Schaaf published in AJOT
This article focuses on supporting feeding as an occupation. Although the authors highlight the MealSense program, we feel that there is a lot of beneficial material that could be applicable to the feeding services provided in EJ’s clinic.
Feeding is a central occupation that plays a critical role in an individual’s life. When a child has trouble eating, it is important to identify what might be causing those sensitivities. A child may be recommended for feeding services if they have difficulties such as selective eating, sensory issues surrounding food, and overall reduced acceptance of foods. These behaviors may cause malnourishment and weight loss in the child.
Feeding difficulties are especially prevalent in children with autism (ASD). This can be due to sensory integration difficulties. Sensory Integration is the process of organizing different sensations received from the environment and responding appropriately. If a child has sensory sensitivity, they may be affected by a food’s texture, smell, appearance, etc.
Feeding intervention is a critical component of helping teach a child how to properly address sensory issues related to food. However, these interventions are shown to be much more effective when the same techniques taught in therapy are carried out in the home when the therapist is not present. A cost-effective solution to this is parent education.
MealSense is a self-paced, web-based parent education program that focuses on teaching parents how to address sensory-based feeding challenges in children with ASD. What makes this program appealing is that it reduces travel time and cost, making it easier to attend for parents.
Programs such as MealSense are beneficial due to their accessibility, making them a great addition to traditional feeding therapy services. They help transfer the skills taught in therapy into homelife. At this time, programs like MealSense aren’t offered at EJ Therapy. However, studies such as this have shown the efficacy of parent education. Perhaps, including parent education with each feeding session or encouraging the parent to call through the week with questions would be appropriate ways to improve the progress of feeding interventions. This would be especially helpful for those families that might not be able to make it to therapy every week due to illness or other circumstances.
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Trewin, Audrey, Zoe Mailloux, Roseann C. Schaaf, “Evaluation of MealSense: A Sensory Integration-Based Feeding Support Program for Parents,” The American Journal of Occupational Therapy. 76, no. 3 (2022): 1-7, https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2022.046987