ABA Therapy for Picky Eaters: Making Mealtime Less Stressful
Picky eating is a common problem that can happen to any family, particularly to children with autism or sensory issues. Dinner time is a struggle of frustration, bargaining, and even meltdowns. ABA therapy offers systematic research-based procedures to assist children in broadening food variety and establishing healthy nourishing eating habits. In this article, we will learn how ABA therapy assists with picky eating and how we can enhance eating in children and caregivers.
Picky eating does not include the refusal to eat vegetables by the child. Fussy eating is high selectivity of food, aversion to food of specific texture, color, or smell, and refusal to add new foods in trying to consume food. Kids with autism or sensory processing disorders will create increased sensitivity that will deter the consumption of foods of a broad variety. Some of the characteristics of fussy eating are:
- Refusal to consume specific foods (e.g., vegetables, protein)
- Limiting food to a specific quality brand or food type
- Gagging or refusal when offered novel food
- Consuming one consistency at a time (e.g., either soft or hard)
- Selective feeding that causes nutritional issues
ABA therapy reconciles knowledge of the eating response and training interventions to support proper eating behavior.
How ABA Therapy Helps Picky Eaters
ABA therapy is founded on the science of behavior and therefore considers things that affect the diet of a child and uses reinforcement to encourage action. ABA is set to reduce food stress and allow children to enjoy a healthy diet.
1. Identification of the Child’s Eating Behavior
Identification of eating behavior, likes, and dislikes of the child by ABA therapists is the initial step. They identify the following:
- What exactly the child is actually experiencing
- How the child responds to being presented with new food
- Sensory sensitivities that affect the selection of food
- Food eating behavior when consuming meals
By filling out this questionnaire, therapists are then in a position to make an individualized plan to address the child’s unique needs.
2. Stepwise Food Exposure
Systematic desensitization or placing the child in a calm and secure setting to expose them slowly to the new food, is among the most common ABA methods used for correcting picky eating. They involve:
- Keeping the new food before the child but not making them eat
- Forcing them to eat tiny amounts and rewarding
- Gradually raising the amount and number eaten step by step bit by bit
3. Positive Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement is probably the easiest ABA therapy idea to understand. In exchange for trying or eating a new food, the child is positively reinforced with something trivial in the way of compliment, reward, or bribe. Something enjoyable to the child must be provided as a reward, i.e.:
- Verbal positive reinforcement (“Good for trying that new food!”)
- Special activity or toy
- Sticker chart to monitor progress
By linking pleasure to experimentation of new foods, children will more than likely eat and ingest.
4. Shaping and Successive Approximations
Shaping is an ABA strategy where children may be taught to acquire new foods with positive reinforcement through step-by-step procedures. Let’s say, for instance, the child spat out an apple; then the therapist ought to:
- Reward simply looking at the apple.
- Encourage touching of the apple.
- Encourage smelling of the apple.
- Encourage nibbling nibble-sized bites.
- Make giving the child the whole slice the hard problem.
- Every step is backed up, and steps are thus less scary.
5. Utilizing Visual Schedules and Routine during Mealtime
Routine and predictability are attractive to Autistic children. ABA therapists utilize visual schedules to instruct children to behave in specific manners when they are eating. A visual schedule can be the following steps:
- Washing hands prior to washing hands
- Sitting at the table
- Tasting something new
- Providing special food following a new experience
- Predictability can soothe mealtime resistance and tension down.
6. Pressure and Avoidance of Negative Reinforcement
Parents unconsciously perpetuate finicky eating by letting the child push aside the food that he does not want to eat or by making dinner a fight. ABA therapy advocates unstructured environments that support but never compel children to eat novelty foods. Refusing to eat a favorite food until he eats another as a punishment may be counterproductive and further stress mealtime.
7. Parent and Caregiver Training
The optimal ABA therapy happens when parents and caregivers are directly involved. Training is also given by therapists in:
- Home reinforcement
- Food discovery promotion during meals on a daily basis
- Healthy eating modeling
- Avoidance of traps such as forcing and bribing
When the families implement these techniques, kids demonstrate great improvement in the resolution of selective eating.
Tips for Stress-Free Eating
Apart from the ABA routines, there are some other suggestions by which the caregivers can have a tension-free mealtime:
1. Create a Calm Meal Environment
- Eliminate distractions such as TV or noise.
- Eat together with the family in an attempt to create proper eating habits.
- Set regular standard times for eating meals throughout the day.
2. Create Active and Enjoyable Eating Times
- Eat on colorfully decorated plates or gourmet presentation.
- Employ dips or sauces in the creation of excitement around novel food.
- Enjoy introducing new foods (e.g., “Let’s see if we can find something to eat in every color!”).
3. Engage Your Child in Food Preparation
- Get them engaged in meal planning and helping with food preparation.
- Have them choose two new foods to try.
- Admire them by stirring, mixing, or constructing meals.
4. Be Patient and Mark Small Successes
- It’s a change process—celebrate each step in the right direction.
- One bite or one lick of new food is a success.
- Repetition is practiced with ABA interventions to build long-term effect.
NeedABA therapists in Missouri City, TX? Our clinic provides one-on-one, research-based ABA therapy services that teach children to achieve skills necessary to thrive and recover from obstacles. Our empathetic professionals collaborate with families to design customized therapy plans that promote achievement and success. Contact us today to learn more!
Conclusion
Selective eating is not for the weak-hearted, but through the right approach, kids can be trained to support wide and healthier ranges of food. ABA therapy provides systematic, evidence-based procedures through which children can become comfortable with graduated introduction to food and minimize family dinner meal anxiety. Parents and caregivers can establish a healthy environment to train kids to accept wider ranges of food through reinforcement, gradual introduction, and establishing habits.
If dinnertime is already table-war, try to incorporate ABA therapy services to instill in your child the basics of eating habits in a tension-free environment.
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