When my older son was a toddler, he was a usually adventurous eater with urge for food. Folks commented on his love for sturdy flavors like salmon and ginger, and his willingness to eat completely different meals. However as his mother and father, we seen one other aspect to his consuming habits: His resistance to consuming most fruits, the way in which he gagged when somebody opened a yogurt container close to him, the tears and tantrums after we served him cheese or strawberries. We additionally noticed him go into full-blown panic mode if we tried to have him assist with “kid-friendly” cooking duties like pushing the button on the smoothie blender or kneading sticky bread dough.

Sound acquainted? My child, like many others, has sensory processing points.

He’s now 16 years previous, and we all know that his sensory difficulties are linked to a neurological dysfunction that additionally causes some studying challenges and visual-motor issues. He’s additionally a assured, shiny, proficient man who’s developed loads of sturdy coping mechanisms over time. It’s generally onerous for me to keep in mind that at one cut-off date, his auditory sensitivities made household gatherings loud and uncomfortable for him, or that he would possibly throw up on the odor of a banana or the texture of messy meals on his fingers. However after I do bear in mind, I can vividly recall the lodging we made to assist him really feel extra comfy in quite a lot of conditions, together with at household meals. I particularly bear in mind how difficult it was to assist him really feel protected, and to assist others perceive his sensory, motor, and social-emotional wants.

That’s why I’m so excited to disclose The Household Dinner Challenge’s latest initiative: The Welcoming Desk. With help from the Tower Basis and assist from a panel of consultants in neurodiversity, dietetics, particular schooling, little one psychiatry and psychology, occupational and feeding remedy, and trauma-informed care, we’ve created a brand new part of our web site only for households whose mealtime wants transcend the challenges of feeding usually growing children.

At The Welcoming Desk, you’ll discover:

We hope you’ll love this new part of The Household Dinner Challenge. If in case you have any recommendations for brand spanking new matters that will assist us develop The Welcoming Desk initiative to be extra useful to households, please tell us! Contact us with the topic header “The Welcoming Desk.”

Meals

A “construct your individual” technique is usually useful when children have sturdy meals aversions, or after they want extra hands-on management of what goes on their plates. These Baked Nachos are a simple crowd-pleaser that may even be made in particular person parts.

Construct Your Personal Baked Nachos

Enjoyable

Assist wiggly children take motion breaks whereas staying engaged at mealtimes with a spherical of “Waiter, Waiter!”

Waiter, Waiter

Dialog

It may be onerous to know methods to discuss your little one’s wants, particularly in social settings. Listed below are some concepts to get the dialog began.