[blindkid] feeding questions

[Carol Castellano]

Does he eat any "finger foods" by himself?  Has he put his hands into 
the dish to see what's there?  These might be places to start, if he 
hasn't done these things yet.

So, you help him scoop the food and then you let go and he brings the 
spoon to his mouth--is that what's happening?  The part you would 
like to work on next would be the scooping?  Is that correct?  If so, 
where are you holding his hand or arm now?  You can try moving back 
the help/support of your hand to behind or above his elbow.  This 
would enable him to control more of the movement.  Might that help?

Carol



At 06:03 PM 3/16/2009, you wrote:
>Hello list,
>My wife and I adopted our son from India back in November of last
>year.  For the most part, things are going great!
>I do have one question that I'm hoping someone on this list can help
>us out with.  In the orphanage, our son was fed all the time.  I
>should say that he is almost 6 years old now.  He is now at the point
>where he will bring the spoon to his mouth after we scoop the food
>onto the spoon for him.  We do this while holding his hand and showing
>him the motion of scooping the food.
>The problem is that we are not sure how to get beyond this.  He will
>reach for your hand if he wants more food.  I'm fairly sure he
>understands the motion required, but he is still relying on us to do
>it for him.  I don't want to deny him food, so I'm not really sure how
>to proceed.
>He is now in preschool, and they have been great!  Unfortunately,
>since feeding himself isn't a skill that is"needed" for school, the
>ocupational therapist at the school won't be working with him on that
>skill.
>Any suggestions?
>
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