The Sequential Oral Sensory (SOS) Approach to Feeding

Sequential Oral Sensory (SOS) Flier

The SOS Feeding Program is a developmental approach to feeding designed to assess and address all the factors involved in feeding difficulties.  It focuses on teaching a child the basic rules of eating through exploring different properties of foods, including texture, smell, taste and consistency. The SOS approach allows a child to interact with food in a playful, non-stressful way.

The SOS approach follows a hierarchy to feeding, from tolerating foods in the room, interacting with the food, smelling, touching, tasting and, eventually, eating the food. Parent education and involvement is an essential part of this feeding approach. Parents watch each feeding session to identify and learn their child’s body language in order to learn this approach for home programming.

This approach can be utilized in individual sessions, as well as with small groups of three to four children. Those who may benefit from this therapy include:

• A child who is transitioning from tube to oral feeding.

• A child who has a low volume of oral intake (or no oral intake).

• A child who has poor weight gain.

• A child who has a limited variety of tastes and textures in diet.

• A child who has difficulties transitioning to advanced textures.

• A child who demonstrates food refusal.

• A child who has maladaptive behaviors around eating.

• Families who power struggle at meal times.
  

Before considering this feeding program, it may be necessary to meet with your child’s pediatrician to determine that there is not an underlying medical condition that might be influencing the feeding problems.

If you have additional questions regarding the appropriateness of this program for your child, please contact our front office where you will be referred to one of the FAC therapists specializing in this feeding approach.