Feeding Therapy

On Monday we had our first feeding therapy appt.  We will be going every Mon and Wed at 9:30.  It will consist of an appt with Occupational Therapy (OT) then with Speech Therapy (ST).  The OT, Ashley, tested Avery a bit further and got to know Avery for the first appt.  She definitely saw some sensory issues.  Avery does not like smelling food.  She also does not like touching pudding type consistencies.  Then we went to ST where we met Poko. Poko will be the one that does the feeding therapy. Ashley basically preps Avery to eat then Poko implements it.  So the feeding therapy is much different than what I expected.  Avery will be in a room with Poko where I will be behind a two way mirror observing.  Avery sits in a highchair type seat in front of the TV and toys.  I was always taught to keep the stimulation away....  Anyways she will be timed for 25 minutes.  When the timer goes off the feeding therapy is done.  That way the timer is the control.  Not Avery.  They will feed her two 'preferred' bites then one 'non-preferred' bite.  Preferred is in Avery's preferred foods.  Poko started with yogurt for preferred and pureed peaches as nonpreferred.  The first non preferred bite she just dipped the spoon in the bowl so Avery could taste.  Then as she went on she gave bigger bites of non preferred.  It went very smoothly.  Avery did cringe the first few bites but got better.  This was pretty easy as they only did a short session of 10 minutes to introduce Avery into the program.  Now I will mention that if Avery refuses the non-preferred bite then they do not go forward with anything else.  She cannot have a preferred bite.  They also start taking away TV and toys.  So IF she says 'no' in the first 5 minutes of the timed session and throws a fit, Poko just sits there and reinforces the non-preferred bite for the next 20 minutes.  OMG...we could have some VERY long sessions.  But there goal is to ween Avery off of the feeding tube.  I also touched on the subject of her possibly having EE.  They said they see issues with that all of the time and we can work through it.  Also if her diet changes they will bring in the dietician right away to help me.  Because honestly, that scares me.  We will deal with it, as we always do, but wow. 

Our next appt is tomorrow.  I will let you know how it goes! 

Thanks for all of the love and support!