2026 International PFD Conference Keynote Session
What Counts as Care? Ethics, disagreement, and empowerment in feeding development
Keynote speaker: John Lysaker, PhD
Facilitator: Meg Simione, PhD, CCC-SLP
This session examines how clinicians and families can navigate moral complexity in feeding care through cultures of moral ambition and the ethics of iterative care. Participants will explore strategies for handling disagreement, balancing autonomy and beneficence, and integrating lived experiences to promote shared, compassionate, and empowering decision-making.
Shannon Goldwater Summit for Change
Feeding Development: Beyond the Growth Chart
Micro Keynote speaker: Alexandra Turnbull, RDN, LD, @thefamilynutritionist
Panelists: Lauren Seaman, RD, LD, mother of child with feeding differences
Tessa Gonzalez, MD, FAAP, mother of child with feeding differences
Facilitated by Committee Co-chairs: Ruth Bourque, MS, OTR/L
Daria Gledhill, mother of child with feeding differences
The goal of this event is to elevate the family perspective alongside professionals and community partners to meet the needs of the family and child with feeding differences. For decades, child health has focused on growth and nutrition, measured by height, weight, and head circumference. However, ongoing research and the lived experience has shown that feeding development is far more complex. Caregivers and health care professionals will move beyond the growth chart and delve into measures of growth for children with feeding differences. Attendees will walk away with examples of goals that properly measure the growth and development of a child with feeding differences and the language needed to advocate for this change.