Food Is Sensory

Abstract Food is sensory and the sensory aspects of food help children know if food is safe or enjoyable for them to eat or try. We will take a careful look at each of the sensory properties of food and look at how we can carefully grade the sensory challenges in our food presentations to help children progress through developmental mealtime transitions and make mealtimes be more enjoyable for children and parents. At the end of the webinar, participants will be able to: 1. Define the near and distant aspects of vision, smell, taste, touch and sound that influence eating. 2. Describe the how sensory variables can be utilized in grading our ASK of children. 3. Describe the importance of rehearsals in new food introduction. 4. Describe the continuum concept in feeding treatment. 5. Define the importance of supporting child and parent success in mealtimes.

Speaker Credentials Marsha Dunn Klein OTR/L,MEd, FAOTA is a pediatric occupational therapist, founder of Mealtime Connections LLC, author, and educator who specializes in eating and mealtime issues with infants and children. Her energies are focused on helping children who have special motor, sensory, and mealtime challenges. Klein is an industry veteran with profound experience assessing, treating, and working in partnership with families of children who have cerebral palsy and other neurological issues, prematurity, sensory processing disorders, visual impairments, genetic and metabolic disorders, as well as autism spectrum disorder – working with many families whose children are fed by supplemental tube feeding.