SEQUENTIAL ORAL SENSORY APPROACH TO FEEDING
Sequential Oral Sensory (SOS) Feeding Approach is for children challenged with feeding difficulties AND their parents. This approach will teach the steps involved in eating and how to incorporate a variety of strategies with foods.
Groups involve the children participating in imaginative play or discussing the properties of food with a therapist. The parents observe session in a separate room via video with another therapist.
Parents will be educated and questions or concerns pertaining to feeding difficulties will be answered. Parents will be given strategies to carry over in the home.
Eating involves our five senses.
THERAPY GROUP FOR AGES 2-6
SOS involves both an occupational therapist and a speech-language pathologist interacting with foods in imaginative play. The therapists identify a child’s comfort level with a non-preferred food (e.g. fruit) and explore the ways they can tolerate the food to eventually eat the food.
The group is set up to emphasize:
- Structure: having a routine with meals is a great way to learn repetition during eating.
- Social modeling: learning to eat through the observation of others.
- Positive reinforcement: meal times are a pleasant and enjoyable for them. Any interaction with food is followed by a verbal praise.
THERAPY GROUP FOR AGES 6-10
Food scientist group takes the same approach with using our fives senses, but targets children to learn about foods and investigate foods.
- This group is intended for older children with cognitive abilities for abstract thinking.
- Children will construct ideas and thoughts about foods through exploration.
- Children will attempt to make sense of “why we eat” and learn about carbohydrates, proteins, starches, etc. They will gain an understanding of the needs of their body and the nutritional value of food.