ACQ Vol 10 No 3 2008

generally per day) where goals are set and adhered to. The emphasis is on the carer engaging in each session with their child with peer and staff support through a carer-support group. The aim is to increase the child’s handling and in­ gesting a greater range of intake of food tastes, types and textures. Clinicians are engaged in direct sessions of oromotor awareness, food preparation and calming activities while carers attend support groups. Videotaping of sessions for carers to rate and then discuss goals and outcomes is encouraged. The final chapter focuses on a review program beyond the intensive food program/course to monitor the child’s progress and develop further eating and drinking skills. This is largely a collection of checklist and feedback forms that may be used by the clinician with carers. The Fun with Food Programme provides an overview for introducing an intensive intervention program for children with oral feeding aversion and their families. Sensory and tactile activities are well explored; however, some experience in managing oromotor and feeding difficulties would be helpful as specific intervention strategies are not well described in some sessions, particularly in the oromotor activities specifically relating to eating activities and feeding sessions. It also a carer-based intervention program to empower and train parents, which is commendable; however, greater support and clinician modelling with eating sessions may be more suitable for some families and children. I would suggest that the manual is a useful resource but it should be incorporated with other available texts and material in this area for speech pathologists involved with assessing and managing children with feeding difficulties.

intervention with the child. Areas addressed include increasing parents’ understanding of nutritional information, particularly on the importance of fluid balance, weight loss/ gain, supplements and how they are incorporated into the program. Developing carers’ awareness of how they interact with their child during meals and whether this is conducive to oral feeding is covered. The emphasis is on developing the parents’ skills in identifying their child’s cues, language and behaviour, and how to respond effectively to them. Mealtime routines and parental expectations and agendas, and meal­ time structure and routines and how these impact on their child are explored and discussed. Practical eating/taste sessions are included to improve parental understanding of the child’s aversion to food from the child’s perspective. Sensory processing difficulties and sensory diet are explained and practical examples are given. The focus is also on developing carer skills in setting goals for their child and discussing these in the context of the team’s aims. Chapter 4 is devoted to preparing the child for oral intake and increasing the child’s understanding of food’s importance for nutrition and growth, through play activities to explore sensory domains such as handling foods of various textures and equipment, with graded exposure to food types/textures explained. Oral motor sessions are included to develop a child’s oral facial awareness through learning about parts of the mouth and their function, oral exploration and de­ sensitisation activities. The Fun with Food section (chapter 5) outlines daily sessions where carers are engaged in feeding sessions (5

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