Feeding therapy has been going great. So well, in fact, that one of our clients has transitioned to eating at home with his mom! Two other clients are eating with their moms at the clinic. Jackson is one of those two!
Kendal came in bragging about the standoff she had with Jackson the night before. When asked who won, she replied, “me, of course!”
Breakfast Day 2
Jackson started the day by generalizing his eating skills to a new therapist. Jackson ate gluten-free waffles, bacon, blueberries, and hash browns. He also started working on cutting his food. He consumed a total of 36 bites.
He engaged in only 21 verbal or vocal behaviors and only 1 attempt to elope.
Lunch Day 3
At lunch, we transitioned Kendall in to the driver’s seat. She supervised Jackson as he ate tuna sandwich on gluten-free bread, apple slices, and salad with dressing. His sitter, Chardonnay, made humus and he ate that with cucumbers and corn chips.
During lunch, Jackson realized that his mom was “in on it”. He cried for the first time. In fact, he cried 26 times. He laid on the floor and he refused to eat for 3 minutes. He also engaged in verbal/vocal refusal a total of 26 times. But, he continued to eat. He ate a total of 53 bites of food with only 1 gag and 4 expels.
At one point, Jackson reached out to grab his mom and she showed him her open palm indicating that he could push his chin on her hand for deep pressure. He pushed his chin into her hand over and over. He leaned back up in his chair and was ready to eat again. Kendall looked around at her fan club (therapists, interns, and sitters) with tears in her eyes. Then she said beneath her tears of joy, “In the past he would have attacked me.”
Dinner Day 3
Kendal and Jackson came back for dinner with baked ham and pineapple, baked sweet potato, raisins, and green beans. In this meal, he didn’t cry, not even once. Instead, we saw the opposite. Jackson was happy and laughing and felling wonderful. He ate a total of 58 bites. He engaged in 10 verbal and vocal behaviors and he pressed on his eyes a few times. He did not try to elope and he did not gag at all. He tried to expel just one bite. He started engaging in some eye pressing but we coached Kendall how to interrupt the behavior without calling attention to it.
As if all this learning was not enough, Jackson learned how to drink from a straw! A few years ago, he knew how to drink from a straw but he lost the skill. Using coconut milk, a newly acquired beverage, Jackson quickly re-mastered it!
Day 3 was a continued success. Check back tomorrow to see how Jackson handles eating with his brother, going to the mall, eating at a restaurant, and having Dad observe.
