What it is
Feeding therapy supports children who experience challenges with eating, drinking, chewing, swallowing, food variety, mealtime participation or overall comfort around food. Feeding difficulties can present in many different ways. Feeding therapy is never about forcing a child to eat. Instead, it focuses on building trust, safety, confidence and functional skills so that mealtimes can become more successful and less stressful for the entire family. We believe mealtimes should feel manageable, connected, and positive. Our goal is to help children develop greater confidence, flexibility, and success with feeding while empowering families with tools and support that carry over into everyday life.
What It Looks Like
Feeding therapy sessions are individualized based on each child’s specific needs, strengths and comfort level. Sessions may involve play-based exploration of foods, oral motor activities, sensory regulation strategies, parent coaching and gradual exposure to new textures or foods in a supportive environment. Therapy may target:
- Expanding food variety
- Oral motor coordination for chewing and drinking
- Sensory sensitivities related to food
- Mealtime rigidity or anxiety
- Food refusal
What We Do
Our feeding therapists take a responsive, relationship-based approach that prioritizes connection, regulation and functional progress. We carefully assess the underlying factors contributing to feeding challenges and create individualized treatment plans that support meaningful growth over time. At Talk of the Town, feeding therapy may include:
- Oral motor assessment and intervention
- Sensory-based feeding support
- Food chaining and gradual food expansion
- Parent education and coaching
- Mealtime strategy development
- Collaboration with outside providers and schools
- Support for both early feeders and older children with longstanding feeding difficulties