Mason visits the Occupational Therapist

As weeks have passed we have given up trying the suggestions that Dr. Dillon-Stout made.  We have been out of town and could not always introduce new foods to him.  Not to mention the availability of food to feed him was in short supply.  I do feed him less and encourage him to feed himself.  Also he drinks less juice and drinks in general.

We took Mason to an Occupation Therapist yesterday for a Feeding and Oral evaluation.  The therapist was very good with Mason.  She watched him eat foods he liked and how he reacted to foods he did not like.  When we went to the appt, I thought Mason was being stubborn when it came to food.  All kids are picky right?  And our family has its share of hard headedness!  After watching the therapist go through the testing, I changed my mind.

First she allowed Mason to become comfortable with the process.  She did so by helping him play with a Mr. Potato head.  Then she started by putting a granola bar in front of Mason.  He was STARVING and started eating right away.  Then she let him feed Mr. Potato head.  He was reluctant to share.    Then she put cubed cheese on his tray.  He was not happy, and would not touch the cheese.  She tried to get him to feed Mr. P., but he wasn’t into it.  She gave him a tissue and asked him to clean-up the cheese.  He did this with no problem.  Funny how a tissue gave him the confidence to touch the offending food.

Then she did the same process with raisins (which he likes) and peanut butter on a spoon (which he doesn’t).  He would not touch the spoon at all even with a tissue.  Very odd!  In addition, she gave him a spoon of pears, but did not show him where they came from.  He wouldn’t eat it and pushed her had away.  She put the container on the tray, but the foil was not pulled all the way back, he still pushed it away.  Finally she removed the foil and gave him the container.  He finally ate the pears.  When asked to cleanup his area, he would only touch food he was familiar with.  There was a chocolate chip from the granola bar and his hand flailed when he touched it, another sign of the disorder.  Yes, this is neurotic, but it is what we dealt with the last year.

I was very excited that she gave us an alternative to allowing him to throw the food on the floor.  We will give him a cup to put his trash in.  It doesn’t totally remove the food from his range, but far enough that he doesn’t feel threatened by it.  Hopefully we will see NO MORE FOOD ON THE FLOOR.  We didn’t realized how much food Anni picked up until she was gone.  We miss her so much, but I digress.

Finally she watched him eat and move food around in his mouth.  Also she watched how he drank to make sure there were no physical problems that contributed to this behavior.  All of this looked okay.  He was only eating with his front teeth, but he is cutting his 2 yr. molars, so that could be the problem there.

So after all this she confirmed that Mason has some sensory issues and some bad behaviors that he has learned as a result.  She has set him up for a treatment called Sequential Oral Sensory (SOS) feeding program.  I don’t know much about this, so more info to follow.  From what I googled, it focuses on increasing a child’s comfort level exploring and learning about the different properties of foods, including texture, smell taste and consistency.

If not treated, the issues could get much worse.  I read stories of kids that cannot be in the room with foods they don’t eat.  They scream and puke.  We don’t want to go there.  Also, sensory issues can lead to eating disorders and OCD…it is time to nip this in the bud!  Our pediatrician recommended we get him evaluated months ago, but I didn’t think it was really a problem.  As he gets older, I am seeing that it is.  We are very thankful that our insurance should cover a portion of this treatment.  

Please keep us in your prayers in the upcoming months.  This is going to be a process for everyone.  Mason has a very strong will and we will have to work with that to get him to a normal place.  I am thankful that he at least eats vitamins.  That takes some of the pressure off of me.  It isn’t the same as fresh fruits, vegetables and proteins, but it helps.