Problem Feeder vs Picky Eater

Many families often question their child’s food preferences. It is very common for children to become very unpredictable and many go through a picky eating phase.   Sometimes it can be more serious than that and can be more of a feeding problem.  If you suspect it is more of feeding difficulties the best thing to do is keep a food journal and track your child’s eating behavior. You can then bring up your concerns with your healthcare provider. You may be referred to an Occupational Therapist or Feeding Therapist who can provide therapy to discover new and healthy foods. This can also help to improve your child’s overall nutrition so they can continue to grow and thrive.

Here are some great tips to look for when trying to figure out if it’s your child being a picky eater or your child being a problem feeder.

Problem Feeders

• Cannot tolerate being around people eating foods they don’t like.
• Refuses to eat particular food textures or colors.
• Eats less than 20 foods.
• Gags or even vomits when eating certain foods.
• If your child is progressively phasing out foods and their diet is becoming extremely limited in variety and color.

Picky Eaters

• Can manage new food on their plate and will try new food with encouragement.
• If your child gets tired of one particular food, it can usually be reintroduced at a later time,
• Your child may not like a variety of food groups or textures but will eat at least one from each food group.

With a child who is being a picky eater, limit snacks and try meal times at the same time every day. You should never bribe or force your child to try a new food. Simply serve new foods alongside familiar foods and encourage your child to try it. It can take up to 10 times to get a child to try something new and that’s okay!

This information has been sourced from: Copyright 1997 / 2019 – Dr. Kay A. Toomey

Therapist favorite picks

Often as parents of children with special needs you are looking for tools or activities that can keep your child busy while learning. Here is a list of some top therapist picks that are used every day in therapy treatment for children that can also be great to have at home.

Favorite board games for fine motor skills and visual motor:

Jenga

Connect Four

Chutes and Ladders

Eye Spy Games

Operation

Headbandz Game

K’nex

Legos

Rubix Cube

What’s in Ned’s Head

A great sensory calming game is Lite Brite. That’s right, the original Lite Brite game is a great activity your child can sit down and play with quietly.

Other tools that help with sensory sensitivity are Sensory Brushes, Theraputty, Vibration Jigglers and Chewy Tubes.

The soft bristles of the sensory brush provide a therapeutic combination of deep pressure and tactile stimulation to help calm down and improve focus. Theraputty can improve fine motor skills and decrease stress. Vibration Jigglers and Chewy Tubes are also used to assist in calming and regaining focus.

All these items can be found on the internet and are reasonably priced.

No one wants to say the “D” word…..DEDUCTIBLE!

Most everyone knows that their insurance plan has a deductible. A deductible is a set amount of money that is the patient/member/subscriber’s responsibility before the insurance will begin to pay towards covered services.

They either reset every Calendar year (every January) or Fiscal year (anniversary of the effective date of the insurance plan). It is important to know your insurance benefits and deductible amounts. Deductibles range from $50 to $6,000 and sometimes more depending on the company and the plan you choose.

For services that are considered covered benefits of the insurance plan, there will usually be a coinsurance (coinsurance is a shared cost with the insurance company) that comes into effect after the deductible is met. For example, say you have a $500 deductible and it has been met (meaning you have spent $500 on covered services). The out of pocket cost for covered services after $500 has been met, turns into a 90/10, 80/20, 70/30, etc., This means that the insurance company will cover 90% of the charges/costs and you are responsible for the remaining 10%. This will vary depending on the plan you have. If it is the 80/20, insurance covers 80% and you are responsible for 20%….etc.

Don’t confuse coinsurance with a co-pay. They are two different things. Coinsurance is a percentage of the cost for a health service and a co-pay is a flat fee for a service.

Be prepared in the new year for your medical expenses and check your insurance plan’s benefits!

The Benefits of Feeding Therapy

Feeding therapy can help children with special needs such as Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), Down Syndrome or Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) or with a child who may be a “picky eater”. Therapy can also help children with fears of trying anything new. The goal of feeding therapy is to establish regular nutritious meals.

Feeding Therapy can help your child be a more varied eater and have harmonious mealtimes. Therapy can be beneficial to help you get to the root of why your child may be refusing foods. Some children have anxiety about mealtime and that there won’t be foods that they like to eat.

Eating is a developmental process for children. When a child has difficulty eating, it means they have stalled in the midst of learning a new skill.  Regardless of your child’s age, the feeding therapist will begin to teach the step by step process wherever your child is having trouble (e.g. chewing) as a means to reaching the long-term goal of independent, healthy eating.

Feeding therapist can also give you small goals/home programs for you to work with your child each week.

The Benefits of Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy can help kids with physical, sensory or cognitive disabilities. Therapy can help kids with their school performance and daily activities.

For kids needing help with fine motor skills occupational therapy can help them with grasping and releasing toys and help them develop good handwriting skills. Occupational therapy can also help kids with hand-eye coordination to improve kids play and school skills.

Occupational therapy is especially beneficial for kids with severe developmental delays and can help with learning basic tasks. Tasks like bathing, getting dressed, feeding themselves and brushing their teeth. Occupational therapist can also create in home programs for you to practice with your child at home. Therapy can help kids who have sensory and attention issues, which can help improve focus and social skills. Kids with behavioral disorders can benefit from learning positive behaviors for all environments.

Occupational therapy can last for months or even for a few years. It all depends on your child’s individual needs and goals. Matching your child with the right therapist is important to. If your child was in need of any type of specialized equipment, your occupational therapist can evaluate and help you in the direction of how to get the equipment needed.

The Benefits of Speech Therapy

Speech therapy can help kids learn to speak more clearly and be able to communicate with others. This helps kids feel more confident and less frustrated about speaking. Kids who have language issues can benefit socially, emotionally and academically from speech therapy.

For kids with reading issues such as dyslexia, speech therapy can help them hear and distinguish specific sounds in words: the word cat breaks down into c, a, and t sounds. This can improve reading comprehension skills and encourage kids to read.

Speech therapy is especially beneficial when kids start therapy early in life. Studies have shown that the earlier kids went through speech therapy the sooner they can improved their language skills.

Speech therapy may last for months or even for a few years. It depends on your child’s needs. Your involvement can make speech therapy more effective for your child. Your child’s therapist can give you and your child strategies to deal with obstacles more effectively. Therapist can provide activities to practice at home to reinforce the skills your child is learning. Kids who make the most progress tend to be those who get involved in their treatment.

It’s important that you find a speech therapist that is a good match for your child. The speech therapist should have experience working with kids with your child’s specific issue. Speech therapy is just one way to help a child with learning issues related to language and speech.

Torticollis

Our Occupational Therapy Department at Sonoran Sun Pediatric Therapy can help treat children with Torticollis. Infant Torticollis, also known as “wry neck” or “loxia,” occurs when a baby’s neck is twisted, resulting in the head tilting to one side while the chin points upwards. In newborns, Torticollis can happen due to positioning in the womb or after a difficult childbirth. This is called Infant Torticollis or Congenital Muscular Torticollis (CMT). It happens when your child’s neck muscles are especially tight on one side, or if something has caused scarring on one side of the neck. The tight muscles or scarring can cause your child’s head to tilt to one side.

Torticollis is relatively common in newborns. Boys and girls are equally likely to develop the head tilt. If you infant has a difficult time turning their head to one side but not the other side, this could be a sign of Torticollis. Infants with Torticollis may also have developed flat spots on their head (Plagiocephaly) or have Facial Asymmetry meaning their ears may be at unequal levels or it may appear that one of their eyes is more pronounced then the other.

If your infant does have Torticollis your doctor may teach you how to do stretches at home with your infant. It is also recommended that you receive an Occupational Therapy Evaluation for your child to help treat their Torticollis. The good news is that through intensive therapy (typically 2-3 times per week), Torticollis can typically be treated. The sooner you are able to come in the better when it comes to Torticollis treatment.

Commercial Insurance Plans

With the New Year can come Insurance changes for you and your family. If you have a Commercial Insurance plan, be aware of your plan on whether it is based on a calendar year or different. If you have a calendar year plan then your deductible will reset for the New Year. Don’t be afraid to call your Insurance Company if you ever have questions on your medical insurance coverage. Insurance coverage and plans can be complicated. Stay in the know of your individual coverage and your family coverage. Typical Commercial Plans have a deductible, co-pays and then a co-insurance. Which means after your deductible is met, you then share the financial responsibility of covered services with your Insurance Company. There is a lot of plans out there and it all can be confusing. Stay educated and know your policy coverage so there is no unknown cost to you that you don’t know about. Sometimes your Insurance will say a service is covered but there may be “exclusions”. If you ever have billing questions don’t be afraid to ask for help on your coverage from either your Insurance Company by calling their customer service or even speaking to someone in the billing department of your medical office that you currently go to.

If you have a HSA account, don’t forget to use it up before the beginning of the New Year. Insurance policies can be complicated but if you stay educated on your policy you will be able to plan ahead.

Holiday Tips & Sensory Strategies

With the holidays here, there is much to be anticipated and much to be excited about for your little one. From what presents will they get, to who will come visit, to enjoying having time off from school, etc.

Here are some quick & easy simple strategies/tips to help decrease your little one’s stress during the holiday season:

Stick to schedules/routines as much as possible

The majority of humans draw comfort from routine. Not only is it normal for our schedules/routines to be thrown off a little bit during the holidays. It is a great lesson for children to have as it teaches them that while it is great to have and follow a schedule, we need to practice flexibility as well, because things change. Try your best to stick to schedules/routines as much as possible during holidays. But know that if your schedule/routine does get thrown off, that’s ok and it’s a great time to teach your little one about flexibility.

Provide guidelines with presents/gifts

Along with changes in schedules/routines Holiday traditions such as gift giving can create new situations that children may not know how to appropriately act with. This can simply be addressed by providing guidelines with gift giving/receiving prior to the activity. Things such as “we can only unwrap presents with our name on them”, “when we give someone a gift it is their turn to unwrap and play with it”, “everyone gets a turn to unwrap gifts and presents, so we may have to wait and be patient when someone else is unwrapping their gifts.”

Provide opportunities for calming & relaxation

With all the changes that the Holidays can bring, it is sometimes necessary that we give our little one time to calm down. As all the changes in routines, visitations from family members we don’t see too often, the lights on houses/building, etc. can sometimes be overwhelming. A good way to help with this is giving your little one time for calming & relaxation away from other people and commotion. Better yet, you can try to schedule opportunities for calming & relaxation during the day, so you can be pro-active in an effort to prevent meltdowns.

The Holidays often give us lots to be excited for, unfortunately they can give us lots to be overwhelmed with. Following these simple strategies can help make your holidays go successfully and smoothly. If you still have concerns or are in need of additional strategies don’t hesitate to reach out to your therapist for help & guidance.

Michael Jankowski, MS, OTR/L
Occupational Therapy Director

5 tips to help with stress during the holidays –

The holiday season can be exciting and stressful at the same time. Especially if you are a family with children. Being organized and prepared for the holidays can be very helpful.

Tip #1 – Set a Budget

With the holidays comes financial pressure. Help relieve that pressure by setting a budget and sticking to it. It helps to set a limit per person. You should include 3 categories in your budget, gifts, groceries and holiday activities. The price of a gift should not be the importance, it should be the thought behind the gift. Something I like to do with my children is if they really want an expensive item that is not in my budget, I let them know for that item they should save up their own Christmas money to purchase the item. This takes the pressure off of you and teaches your children to appreciate the item they bought themselves.

Tip #2 – Plan Ahead

Don’t over book yourself and set expectations that are not realistic. Make a “To Do List” on just plain old regular paper or use your phone to create your “To Do List”. Often, there is so many fun holiday activities going on in the community and with friends and family, that you may not be able to do them all. You can always do some activities next year. When you plan to many activities you don’t fully enjoy them. Stop obsessing over doing it all yourself. Include your family in helping with the “To Do List”. This will make them feel important and useful and appreciate all that you do.

Tip #3 – Pick Your Battles

The holidays are not only stressful for you but for children as well. It can be sensory overload for some children. Remember to have patience with your children and if your child is just not having a good day or not enjoying a planned activity, then leave the activity. If you know dinner time is a time where your children like to pick fights with each other then maybe eat out, or let your child choose a different spot to eat that night. The holiday season is not the time to fight with your children, it just adds unnecessary stress.

Tip #4 – Make Time For Yourself

Don’t forget about your day to day routine. It is so important to fit in exercise, eat well and get plenty of sleep. When you are at your best, then your children and family around you will be at their best.

Tip #5 – Think Positive

Keeping a positive mind set is key to keeping stress at bay. Don’t try to be a perfectionist during the holiday season. Make your gifts and holiday planning your own. Remember it’s time to celebrate with family and friends and look forward to the New Year!!!