Happy 13th Birthday to my Nick xx

Nick's birthday has never been an easy time for me. He has no understanding of the significance of the day. The concept of birthday presents has no meaning to him and it has only been in the last couple of years that he will (not willingly) open one gaily wrapped parcel. Each birthday is a reminder of the severity of his disability. Each birthday is yet another sucker punch to let me know that his development is so far behind his chronological age.

I have spent the last couple of weeks going through hundreds of photos and its been quite a trip down memory lane.  Anyhow, I don't want to ramble on.....

Today I choose to celebrate my little boy who has now finally become a teenager... a spotty, hairy, smelly and a long string bean of a teenager. He is gentle, amusing, interactive, loving, innocent, sweet, noisy, passive, engaged and observant. He is my Nick and I am proud to be his mum.

Food issues

My boy has such a restrictive diet and I have been mulling over ways on how to deal with this issue.


I happened to read this post from the Horizons Develpmental Resource Centre, called Picky Eater or Problem Feeder. They mentioned that "Kay Toomey and associates developed the Sensory-Oral-Sequential Approach to Feeding (SOS) which is the preferred treatment methodology for picky eaters and problem feeders alike". Aha, I thought..... this looks interesting, this looks like it could help my boy. My gut (pun intended!!) feel is that Nick's food issues all stem from his sensory profile. 


So, I googled Kay Toomey and the Sensory-Oral-Sequential Approach to Feeding (SOS).


I was absolutely gobsmacked (yes, pun intended!!) when I saw the google links for SOS! The third link was for Jacob's Journey: SOS feeding program!!!! Hah, Havest Moon......... this was definitely *THE* sign that I was on the right track. I have been following this amazing mother for YEARS!


Harvest Moon ~ Jacobs Journey
"The program is called the SOS (Sequential Oral Sensory) approach, and a concise description of it (and why it would be used) can be found here. Basically, it takes the understanding that these kids' feeding problems are based on sensory issues, and works on slowly desensitizing them to the overwhelming effect that food has on their senses. In a nutshell, you start by getting them to tolerate being near food, then progress to getting them to touch it, smell it, and eventually taste it. From looking at it to taste is a pretty long road, taken at micro-steps, but in the end should result in a child without an eating disorder, and without any trauma induced by the method"

Me thinks that this is the way I need to go........

~*~