The first goal of the feeding team is that the mealtime environment is safe and supportive. Once children are able to maintain a regulated state in these environments, the team can address functional mealtime skills such as cup drinking, oral motor skills such as chewing and acceptance of non-preferred foods through graded consistent exposure and modeling. The goal of family style preparation is for the children to participate in a social mealtime environment.
Long term goals are to target increased food consumption and variety in diets to promote nutrition and health. Ultimately, the goal is for each child to accept a wide variety of foods in their repertoires, eat a well-balanced and nutritious diet, and generalize these skills to outside environments.
Data for feeding therapy focuses on functional mealtime skills, oral motor skills, participation, and food consumption within fruits, grains, proteins, and vegetables. Setting feeding goals begins upon enrollment with the participation of the caregivers and therapists.
Blue Bird Day uses an electronic data collection and management system is used to collect data on each therapeutic session and is closely tracked by each child’s therapeutic team.
Progress is shared quarterly via email and in person during the annual IITSP/reevaluation meeting. Quarterly progress is examined giving a cumulative display of growth and a narrative for each discipline.