Frequently Asked Questions
What is feeding therapy?
Feeding therapy assesses the underlying causes for decreased limited diets, poor nutrition, and picky eating. We provide targeted techniques to treat these concerns in your home. As pediatric feeding therapists, we work with children and their families to make mealtimes less stressful and improve your child’s skills at the table so they are successful and confident around any food.
How do I know if my kid needs feeding therapy? Aren’t all kids picky eaters?
If your mealtimes include meltdowns, bribery, frustration, and/or separately cooked meals, we are ready to help! Picky eating is a broad term that can cover many areas of needs. While it is common for children to show a preference for certain types of foods, feeding therapy can help when a child: eats less than 10 foods in each food group (carbs, protein, fruits/vegetables); cuts out food they once loved; has uncontrollable meltdowns with non-preferred foods; strong sensory aversions to certain foods (ex. Gags around the smell of foods); and/or requires separate meal preparations from the family.
I thought only speech therapists work on eating?
Feeding is a unique practice area that can be addressed by a speech language pathologist OR an occupational therapist, as long as they are properly trained. I have spent my entire occupational therapy career specializing in feeding therapy and obtaining an advanced practice in swallowing assessment, evaluation, and intervention to best serve my clients.
What areas do you provide food therapy in?
Encinitas, Cardiff, Carlsbad, Solana Beach, San Marcos, Del Mar, and Rancho Santa Fe.
Don’t worry if you don’t see your city listed here! We are able to provide in-clinic therapy services at Young Medicine, a local doctor’s office in Encinitas. Also, as long as you live in California we can provide feeding therapy services to you and your family through teletherapy. Unfortunately, due to our professional licensing, we cannot offer teletherapy services outside of California at this time.
Do you take insurance?
San Diego Feeding Therapy is private-pay only. After years of arguing with insurance companies, we do not believe they should dictate the frequency or quality of services your child receives. We would be happy to provide a superbill to take back to your insurance company for potential reimbursement as an out of network provider. Additionally, we are a vendor with the San Diego Regional Center to provide early intervention services for clients 0-3 years old. We are also able to accept payments with HSA and FSA cards.
My child already participates in speech therapy and occupational therapy. Is it possible to plan a holistic approach?
Yes! We understand that eating is only one aspect of your child’s life and believe collaborating with other professionals is crucial to building a holistic understanding of your child. Each professional, like a speech therapist or physical therapist, views your child from a different lens. By collaborating, we can make sure each aspect of your child’s life is considered when making our approach to food successful.