Understanding Your Sensory Defensive Child and Mealtime Challenges

By: Ilene R. Rotman, M.S. CCC-SLP
Director of Language Link Therapy, Inc.

The sense of taste, touch, and smell are all strongly connected when talking about mealtime. How often do you find yourself touching a new food or smelling a new dish before putting it into your mouth? Why do we feel the need to explore the food further before tasting it? The answer to this question is simple. If we dislike how a food items feels to the touch, or how it smells our natural instinct is to avoid the food.

A child with sensory deficits experiences food much in the same way, except the reaction to the new food may be more severe. Some children just from the sight of an undesirable food may begin to gag. Other children may begin to cry or tantrum at the sight. Some children may go as far as putting the food inside his or her mouth and letting it sit there until he or she spits it out. Children who fall under this category tend to favor only a few food items during mealtime. If your child fits into this category, this article will inform you of ways to work with your child at home to reduce their negative reactions to food and increase the variety of foods they will tolerate.

Before you begin working with your child, you should make a list of foods your child naturally avoids. Next to each item, label or describe the smell, taste, and texture of each item. Once you have identified the items your child dislikes, you are going to turn that texture or smell into a playtime activity. The key is to allow the child to interact with the unfavorable texture without the pressures of putting the food item in their mouth.

Once your child becomes used to the unfavorable textures or smells through playtime activities, you can slowly begin introducing the item “near” your child’s mouth. Begin dipping your finger or placing a small amount on your finger and tap it close to your mouth. Laughing and smiling will show your child that this is silly and fun instead of serious and scary. Wait to see if your child imitates your behavior, if he or she places food on your face instead of his or her face that is a good start. If they still seem unsure of the food item you can assist them to dip their finger and put it on your face. Think of when we place icing on a child’s nose at a birthday party, during this stage we are just trying to have the child accept the unfavorable item near their mouth.

Introducing undesirable food into your child’s mouth is the final stage when feeding your sensory defensive child. At this point you can begin by having the child lick his or her fingers after playing with the food item. Modeling this behavior for your child might ease your child’s anxiety about tasting the item. Once your child has licked his or her fingers and allowed the food in his or her mouth, praise your child and resume back to playing with the food item.

For further information about feeding therapy, the sensory defensive child, and other speech, language and occupational therapy needs, feel free to contact Ilene R. Rotman, M.S. CCC-SLP, Director of Language Link Therapy, Inc in Cooper City, FL at Office (954) 689-0730 Fax (954) 689-0732 or by email irotman @ languagelinktherapy.com. Language Link Therapy, Inc. offers a variety of pragmatic groups, seasonal pragmatic boot camps, feeding therapy, sensory integration therapy, speech therapy, language therapy, occupational therapy, and more. Language Link Therapy, Inc. is a family run pediatric private practice.