Selective Eating
&
Mealtime Behaviours
Selective eating (sometimes referred to as picky eating) is defined as a feeding issue or disorder. This means that the difficulties that are being encountered are not medical and are more about the environment and patterns of learned behaviour. Selective eating or challenges with mealtime behaviour can include but are not limited to:
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Rigidity around textures, smells, colour, food categories, brands or temperature of food
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Eating with utensils
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Uncooperative with mealtime routines (e.g., sitting at the table)
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Eating meals vs snacking all day
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Uncooperative with requests to eat or try new foods (e.g., cry, push spoon away, spit food out etc.)
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These issues can increase stress levels for caregivers and have significant impacts on the overall health and well-being of the child.
How Our Service Works
1
Contact Us
Filling out our contact us form is the best way to connect with us.
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If you would like to speak to someone right away you can also call us. Our office hours are Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm.
2
Discovery Call
We will connect with you within 48 hours to book a FREE discovery call. The discovery call will take between 30 minutes - 1 hour. We will gather information regarding your needs and make a recommendation for duration of service & cost.
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3
Quote
Following our discovery call we will send you a quote for the services we are recommending. We ask that you confirm your interest in receiving our services within 7 calendar days of receiving the quote.
4
Intake
During the intake meeting we will review the details of the service, complete all the necessary paperwork, book an assessment time and determine a schedule for when we will get started.
5
Assessment
Assessments will be completed in-person and/or virtually. Assessments will look different for each service provided and for each caregiver & child.
6
Get Started!
The first week of services we will provide a high level of support. Typically, we recommend 3-5 consecutive sessions of in-person support, followed by ongoing virtual support and a systematic plan for transitioning to the caregiver independently implementing the strategies.
How a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst Can Help
A Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA) is a graduate level professional that utilizes evidence-based strategies based in behaviour analysis to teach individuals new skills that will improve the quality of their life. All services provided are individualized and goals are established using a collaborative approach between caregiver, child and BCBA. Once an “end” goal has been agreed to (e.g., cooperates with trying new foods) the BCBA will create an individualized plan that takes into consideration the caregiver and child’s values, culture and any other personal preferences identified to the BCBA. Within this plan the BCBA will outline how everyone will work together, and systematically move closer and closer to achieving the “end” goal.
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When working with a BCBA the goal is always to teach strategies that will help individuals achieve personal goals. That being said, the first step is ALWAYS ensuring that the barriers that are being encountered are behavioural and not medical. To ensure the goals that are being set are achievable and safe, BCBAs require medical clearance prior to implementing strategies to change behaviours such as eating, feeding and mealtime behaviours.
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If you would like to read more about what a BCBA is, what they do and what to expect when working together please click here.