[blindkid] feeding questions/jason

[Leah]

Dear Jason,

I think I may have missed the responses to this, so please forgive me  
if I say something that was already said.

It sounds like he is making great progress if he can bring the spoon  
to his mouth in just a few months! It is good to hear that things are  
going well.

How about some play, apart from meals, using different sizes and types  
of spoons and scoops with different textures? Play items like sand,  
water, dry rice or beans are fun to scoop and dump. You can emphasize  
the enjoyment of whatever senses your son likes - maybe the sound of a  
big scoop of wet sand falling down or the feel of spooning rice onto  
his other hand? For kids that don't like to touch messy things with  
their hands, using a stick, spoon, or other tool can be a safer- 
feeling way to contact the play substance. Hopefully it will help him  
learn how to feel when the spoon is full or empty and motivate him to  
experiment with loading it, stirring, emptying, etc.

For loading and scooping yourself, we used a high-sided bowl, first  
one that stuck to the table and later we taught how to use the "helper  
hand" to steady the dish. Using some guidance with our hands we made a  
short phrase to describe the scooping motion. We called it "down and  
up" and we sort of sang it because my son takes information in well  
when it is sung. For a long time we guided his hand every bite and  
said the phrase. I think repeating the phrase was helpful somehow.  
Eventually he could eat some foods himself. (He has a hard time doing  
it regularly but I think that is other issues).

At one point, I picked one food he loved (ice cream) and gave it to  
him every day at the same time and ONLY let him have bites that he  
scooped within his highest then-current stage of skill. For all the  
rest of the meals, I went with whatever worked to get the food in. I  
didn't want to make it too frustrating for either of us; that's why I  
went with one time per day. I think some kids might be able to  
tolerate that "pressure" for more meals than that.

I also had to teach him to return the spoon either to the dish between  
bites or to set it on a napkin. Without this, he would hold the spoon  
sideways and let things drip off it while he was concentrating hard on  
chewing!

If he is used to feeling connected physically with you while eating,  
like by having you scoop the food or by being able to reach for you to  
request more, maybe as he learns more steps of doing it himself, there  
could be another way to keep that connection for him so that only one  
thing changes at a time. Like by still providing some touch in the  
context of support or praise.

HTH

Leah