If I were
in charge of deciding what classes graduate students had to take, I would make a
few changes. Feeding therapy is a part of our job description- as well as
possibly the most dangerous if not done correctly. The need for feeding therapists seems to be growing, however, there are hardly any classes available for students on this topic. Over the past year
I have worked with more children with feeding aversions than ever before. Even
in my "mommy circles" I hear parents all the time talk about how
picky their children are about food, how dinner time is a constant struggle,
and the stress that it brings on their families. I was thrilled when I met
fellow SLP, Jenny McGlothlin in a Facebook group and heard about her book,
Helping Your Child with Extreme Picky Eating. Written by a medical doctor and an SLP, this is a step-by-step guide for
overcoming selective eating, food aversion, and feeding disorders.
I was
provided a copy of this book for the review; however, all opinions expressed
are my own.
This book
is an incredible tool for both parents and therapists. As I was reading it, I
pictured many of my clients as well as my own daughter as specific scenarios
were described. Jenny and Katja do a great job using parent friendly language
as they describe the 5 steps to helping your child- from decreasing anxiety at
meal times to how to serve meals to your child.
One of my most favorite parts of the book is that they provide suggestions for exercises you
as a parent or therapist should do to put your self in the child's shoes. You
don't always realize how stressful having someone feed you can be until you try
it.
I could
relate to so many scenarios described in the book and absolutely loved the
suggestions that came along with them. One that I literally said
"Yes!" out loud to was: the more you say, the more your child
will argue. Amen! I have seen so many parents, and I am definitely guilty of
this as well, try to convince their child to eat by persuading, bargaining, and
telling them how yummy the food is. Sometimes if you just put the food on the
plate and don't say anything about it, your child may try it on their own.
Bringing too much attention to a food can backfire.
I would
highly recommend this book to parents of children that are extremely picky
eaters. It provides so much information, in a step-by-step format for parents without being overwhelming.
Kudos to Katja Rowell and Jenny McGlothlin on creating a wonderful tool!
You can purchase a copy of the book from Amazon!
Check out their website at: www.extremepickyeating.com
