Families of children with developmental disabilities are faced with many challenges in the course of their child's learning and language development. Feeding difficulty is recognised as an additional challenge in children with developmental disabilities which further affects the child's development and health. The severity can range from picky…

Pediatric feeding disorders are common and are often associated with chronic medical conditions and developmental disorders. A multidisciplinary treatment approach may be offered through outpatient or intensive programs. Benefit has been demonstrated with intensive programs, but there is little data regarding outpatient approaches. We described…

Pediatric Feeding Disorder, a common problem in children, is commoner in children with various developmental disorders. Children with pediatric feeding disorder can have food selectivity and lack dietary diversity (DD). In this paper, an understanding of DD in these children is provided along with a dietary diversity index that can be helpful in…

Feeding difficulties occur at a high rate in children with normal development and at a disproportionally high rate in children with developmental disabilities. Prolonged problematic eating, categorized as Pediatric Feeding Disorder (PFD), can result in poor physical growth and jeopardize overall health. Extant research on applied behavior analysis…

Many children with autism spectrum disorder experience feeding difficulties that can lead to increased health risks (e.g., severe nutrition deficiencies, obesity-related illnesses) if left untreated. Intensive feeding programs that use behavior-analytic interventions have reported positive outcomes for treating challenging behavior associated with…

This dissertation was designed to determine which behavior analytic intervention was more effective in the treatment and reduction of mouthing non-nutritive substances in children diagnosed with autism. This study included four participants in an A-B-A reversal design with a component analysis across four intervention phases. The study…

Inappropriate mealtime behavior (IMB) is a type of feeding challenge within the broader class of food refusal. The purpose of this study was to critically analyze the efficacy of interventions for the treatment of IMB through a meta-analysis of research using single-case experimental designs. We examined the extent to which different interventions…

Autistic children commonly experience mealtime difficulties; however, it is unknown what makes an effective transdisciplinary mealtime service for autistic children. This study used a realist evaluation framework to explore caregivers' and therapists' perceptions of the contexts, mechanisms and associated outcomes of a transdisciplinary mealtime…

Purpose: Recognizing the need to advance the treatment of pediatric feeding disorders, an emerging area of inquiry focuses on therapeutic techniques that address expulsion and packing possibly associated with oral-motor dysfunction. In the current study, we documented the use of modified-bolus placement in the treatment of pediatric feeding…

Moderate feeding problems affect many children with autism spectrum disorder and often co-occur with disruptive mealtime behaviors. Although parent-mediated interventions have shown promise to support feeding problems, research has primarily occurred within randomized controlled trials when delivered by highly trained clinicians in specialty…

School psychologists are asked to provide a number of different services in schools, including evaluating and providing recommendations to educators and parents on children and adolescents with rare genetic conditions. One genetic disorder with physical, cognitive, and behavioral features is Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS). PWS is a unique genetic…

This systematic review provides a synthesis of behavioral interventions for food selectivity (FS) in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A multistep search strategy was employed to identify experimental studies published in peer-reviewed journals between 1984 and 2015. Thirty-one studies met inclusion criteria. Participant…

Purpose: Although an interdisciplinary approach is recommended for assessment and management of feeding or swallowing difficulties, audiologists are not always included in the interdisciplinary team. The purpose of this study is to report the prevalence of middle ear and hearing problems in children with feeding and swallowing disorders and to…

The prevalence of childhood eating disorders is increasing in pediatric practice across the country. It is therefore important for occupational therapists to be familiar with current research, resources, and intervention strategies related to a variety of eating diagnoses. In this column we highlight basic definitions of a variety of eating…

School counselors play a crucial role in the prevention, assessment, treatment, and overall management of eating-related problems among children and adolescents. This article provides a framework for conceptualizing these difficulties on a continuum of severity and includes recommendations at each level for intervention and consultation.…