Sensory Feeding
Our sensory feeding therapy follows the evidence based Sequential Oral Sensory (SOS) Informed Approach to Feeding, supporting your child and family to work towards positive and pressure free eating. It is play based and family centred, helping children to eat a wider variety of foods by exploring them step by step.
You can book an exploratory call – free of charge – with our Occupational Therapist who is trained in the SOS Approach, and bookings are now open for Thursday 28th or Friday 29th May. After your call our therapist will recommend the next steps for you and your child, this may be an assessment or sessions and will always be based on your child’s needs and the needs of your family.
Sensory Feeding
Sensory feeding supports children with severely restricted food intake. This is likely to be associated with a diagnosis of autism or sensory processing difficulties, and children are often limited to less than 20 foods that they will eat.
The clinic provides assessment and intervention for children with sensory-based or developmental feeding challenges using the Sequential Oral Sensory (SOS) Approach to Feeding. The SOS Approach to Feeding is a research-based, family-centred program that uses a step-by-step method to build a child’s comfort level with food.
It is designed to increase a child’s tolerance of various foods by gradually introducing them through play. The approach moves through a hierarchy of steps, beginning with tolerating the sight of food, and progressing through touching, smelling, tasting, and eventually eating.
Children with Autism and sensory processing and developmental difficulties can often find eating a challenging and distressing task. As with any developmental activity (walking, talking, learning to ride a bike), children learn to eat best through purposeful play.
This low-pressure, systematic desensitisation process helps reduce anxiety around food and supports children in developing positive associations with eating. By teaching children how to explore and evaluate new foods – talking about their appearance, texture, smell, and taste – we help reduce fear of the unknown (food neophobia) and encourage curiosity.
This clinic supports children who:
- 1. Demonstrate a sensory aversion or avoidance of food textures, tastes, or smells
- 2. Have a food range of less than 20 foods, especially if foods are being dropped over time with no new foods replacing those lost
- 3. Have difficulty transitioning to new foods or textures
- 4. Display stress, gagging, or refusal behaviours related to feeding
- 5. Children may also have a co-occurring diagnosis (such as Autism) or sensory-based feeding diagnosis such as Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) or Paediatric Feeding Disorder (PFD)
Sessions are child-led, play-based, and designed to build comfort, confidence, and oral skill development through graded exposure to food experiences.
Sessions will be broken down into 4 parts:
- 1. Regulation and readiness activities
- 2. Play-based exploration following the SOS hierarchy
- 3. Parent involvement and guided reflection
- 4. Discussion of carryover strategies for home
Note: This clinic is not suitable for children with complex nutritional management needs and does not provide intervention for children with medical swallowing disorders, tube feeding requirements or complex nutritional management needs. However, where swallowing difficulties are stable, and liaison with the treating medical team confirms it is appropriate, assessment can proceed. All referrals are triaged by the SOS-trained OT to confirm suitability, ensuring no contraindications for participation.