Individual Therapy for Kids with Eating Difficulties
Individual Therapy
Individual therapy may be the most appropriate form of therapy for your child if your child struggles in group situations, finds turn taking a challenge, has a specific learning need or is in secondary school then individual sessions are the most appropriate for your child.
If your child has a specific dietary requirement e.g. has a diagnosed food allergy or is following a diet for religious reasons individual sessions are appropriate.
These sessions enable the therapist to tailor each food to your child’s specific needs. Sessions are an hour long and take place in the child’s home where siblings can be included if appropriate. Parents join in with the food exploration and are encouraged to take an active part in the therapy sessions.
Home sessions provide the opportunity for the child to be involved in the food preparation and some basic cooking if appropriate. We find that parents sometimes like to involve extended family members in sessions if they are part of regular mealtimes with the child. This enables all family members to learn strategies and ensure they use a consistent approach when taking part in mealtimes with your child.
Individual sessions have also been carried out in restaurants if enabling the child to eat in a restaurant is a family target.
Following completion of the pre-assessment form the Occupational Therapist and Speech and Language Therapist will decide if a joint assessment with both therapists is required. The initial assessment usually takes approximately 90 minutes.
Following the initial assessment, the Occupational Therapist will usually carry out the weekly sessions. Sometimes the Speech and Language Therapist will also attend some weekly sessions depending on the needs highlighted at the assessment.
We recommend 10 therapy sessions to make significant progress so parents feel empowered to help their child continue to make improvements after therapy has stopped. Depending on the child’s needs individual sessions can be weekly or staggered to allow short periods of consolidation.