Hi and welcome to “What Works Wednesdays” where we share a success story from one of our clinical cases. All names have been changed to preserve the privacy of the child and family. Our intent is to show readers how successful ABA can be.
Today’s success story is about Mary Lea, a sweet little peanut who had just turned 3 prior to coming to feeding clinic. In addition to being diagnosed with autism, Mary Lea had experienced some medical issues in her young life. However, her Mother’s biggest concern was Mary Lea’s eating. Mary Lea only ate with her fingers and she refused to use utensils. Mary Lea also drank out of one cup and she showed no interest in drinking from any other container.
Mary Lea loved to drink apple juice and almond milk. She consumed Lays Stax chips, mini muffins, McDonald’s french fries, and chocolate pop tarts. Mary Lea also had an affinity for Sonic Grilled Cheese. Her mother bought a sandwich maker, special bread, and Sonic wrappers so she could make them at home. Mary Lea wanted nothing to do with her mother’s grilled cheese. She cried and refused to eat until her mother bought her a Sonic grilled cheese.
Mary Lea and her mother packed their bags and made the trek to Austin, Texas where we were offering a week of intensive feeding therapy. Mary Lea and her mother attended sessions 3 times each day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner). It is hard work for the parents because they have to take off from work to bring their child to the clinic. The parents have to prepare all the food and bring it to clinic for each meal. Finally, parents watch all sessions for the first day or two so they can learn the strategies that we use.
In the initial stages of intervention, we target an easy skill to ensure that the child will get access to preferred items or activities (also known as reinforcers). For Mary Lea, we quickly learned that she loved the new coconut milk yogurt we offered her. We were able to use the new yogurt to get her to try other new foods. Within the first day, Mary Lea was taking food from our hand and placing it in her mouth. Our next goal was to teach her to eat from a utensil.
Mary Lea was not happy about this change in feeding expectations. Since she refused to eat from the utensil in one session, she did not get access to the yogurt. After one session with no access to yogurt, Mary Lea realized that the only way she could have the yogurt was to try new foods. Soon, she was self-feeding with the utensils. After this, we transitioned her mother in to sit next to her and her eating continued to improve.
Once Mary Lea mastered eating in the clinic, we moved therapy to a local restaurant. Mary Lea’s mom brought the yogurt in to the restaurant to use as a reinforcer. Mary Lea does not handle change well so she was initially unhappy about eating in a new place with new plates and new utensils. However, she quickly realized that the restaurant also had good food to eat. (As a side note, most restaurants are ok with families bringing in special food, you just need to clear it with them first. In our experience, restaurant staff are very understanding of the issues associated with autism including eating challenges. Restaurant staff have been most accommodating.)
Not only did Mary Lea learn to eat within the 5 days of intervention, she stopped using her pacifier and she started walking everywhere instead of being carried! Finally, on the last day, we introduced the iPad2 equipped with Proloquo2go software. We offered dairy-free pudding as dessert at the end of the meal. Mary Lea was prompted to touch the “I want pudding” button after which she received one bite of pudding. On the third try, Mary Lea touched the “I want pudding” button on her own.
Congratulations Mary Lea on your success. You could not have done it without your mom. She rocks!
Happy eating!
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This brings tears of joy to my eyes!! All I can say is that YOU LADIES ROCK!!! Mary Lea continues to flourish because of changes made at your feeding clinic.
Thanks Kristen, thinking of Mary Lea brings tears of joys to my eyes. I’m so proud of her. I will NEVER forget the day we walked in and she was loving it up with Miss Wendy. That story will live on forever!
For making my Daughter & Granddaughter happy, I’m happy and I want to thank you also !
Thanks Bill! We can honestly say that we love what we do. Our mission is to improve quality of life and I’d say that your granddaughter is on her way to an improved quality of life. She and her mother would have never been able to do it without your support! So Thank YOU!
As a family member and teacher, I would like to commend and thank all of those that helped with Mary Lea’s therapy. She is such a loving child. With your behavioral modifications she is sure to have much success in the years to come.
Thank you Doris. As I’ve said, feeding clinic is stressful. Mary Lea made great progress because of the support she received from her mom and other family members. Thank you!
I am so glad that I was able to come and sit in on the last day of Mary Lea’s therapy! It is so wonderful to see how much she has benefitted from clinic. You all are wonderful and do a great job.
It’s amazing to watch isn’t it! Such progress in only 5 days!
[…] Feeding difficulties among children with autism is not a new phenomenon. Kanner reported it in 1943 and many others have subsequently validated his findings. While children with autism may experience a wide range of feeding difficulties, the most commonly reported issue is “food selectivity”. Most people would call it picky eating. However, for children with autism, the issue is much more extreme than merely picky eating. Children with autism may limit their food consumption to just a few foods. We’ve described this in our own clinical practice here and here. […]
I am Marry Lea’s Ninny and I cried thinking what she was enduring but I knew it was for her own good…. I was able to feed her one day this past week and it was great to see how well she is doing now she did try to push me over for her peanut butter bread but I won that battle and in the end she did also… Thanks again!!!! And you are right her mom does ROCK!!!!!
Thanks Cindy! Mary Lea couldn’t have done it without your help and support too!
[…] 4. Mary Lea and Sonic Grilled Cheese Sandwiches […]
[…] had the little girl who only ate Sonic grilled cheese sandwiches (we recently had a little boy that only ate Sonic grilled cheese too! Maybe they should […]
[…] applications, including the Proloquo2go software has helped us and our loved ones tremendously. Children have learned to communicate that they want to eat, children have learned to communicate when they are upset, children have learned to communicate […]