| Mealtime
Notions LLC was created by Marsha Dunn Klein,
MEd, OTR/L to provide mealtime support for parents and
professionals who feed infants and young children with
special feeding challenges. Initially Mealtime Notions
provided therapy evaluations and consultation as well
as videotapes, DVD's, books and products to support mealtimes.
The therapy evaluation and consultation aspect of Mealtime
Notions is now provided by a separate company called Mealtime
Connections, LLC. For more information about Mealtime
Connections, LLC, visit www.mealtimeconnections.com.
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The
philosophy of Mealtime Notions, LLC support,
product use and education
is that feeding is, first and foremost, a special relationship
between the child and the feeder. That trusting feeding
relationship must be nurtured at mealtimes and in all
mealtime helping strategies. We use and teach the "Get
Permission© Approach" to all mealtime interactions.
We
believe it is the adult job to offer mealtime opportunities
and the child job to communicate whether the interaction
is enjoyable. We look for a "positive tilt"
in the mealtime interaction where the adult and child
lean towardseach other physically or emotionally during
the meal.
The child can indicate acceptance and readiness for the
mealtime experience by opening the
mouth, reaching or leaning towards the food. We avoid
creating situations that can be described as a "negative
tilt" where the adult is leaning towards the child
and offering, but the child is pulling away, pushing away,
crying, and trying to leave the mealtime situation. To
keep the tilt
positive, we need to start from a point of trust, start
with food tastes and textures and stretch confidence and
enjoyment from there.
The
children we serve through workshops and products have
difficulties coordinating the process of sucking, swallowing,
and breathing, handling the sensory aspects of mealtimes
and have a hard time getting in enough calories to grow.
Many of them need supplemental tube feeding to help with
nutrition. Often their enjoyment of mealtimes is dampened
because of the neurological,
genetic, cardiac, metabolic, sensory and experiential
challenges they have encountered. We provide educational
opportunities with workshops, therapy consultation and
shared information, as well as favorite mealtime resources
and materials.
It
is our goal to help families and professionals:
-
Create positive mealtimes and feeding relationships
while nourishing all mealtime participants
- To
understand mealtimes from the perspective of the child
and family
- To
identify and create strategies for treatment of the
medical, oral motor, sensory, emotional and environmental
challenges that affect feeding
- To
help children master mealtime skills with confidence
and enjoyment and the internal motivation to eat enough
to grow well
- To
look past the mouth and into the bigger picture of mealtime
- To
support parents in their roles as "provider of
nourishment" for their child
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