So my son is 3. He has delays; fine motor skills, talking and food aversions/oral motor. He is currently in Occupational therapy and Speech therapy, and has been doing great. We have a pretty good team. He is very smart and understands a lot, but doesn't know how to vocalize his needs and uses a lot of gestures and handing you/guiding you to things he needs.
We were in feeding therapy last year but I pulled him from it, because I felt like every week they were doing to same thing over and over again, and nothing was happening. And they made me feel like such a crappy mom, like I messed up and this is my fault.
My son does have trouble chewing and he'll eat a lot of soft foods. We started him at purees at 6 months, then around 13 months we started giving him more solid foods and then he got sick (stomach bug) and ever since then trying to get him to eat newer foods has been a struggle. People kept telling me it's going to take time, keep trying ect and it'll get better. Well now after some research I think his lack of talking is due to lack of chewing, since it involves movement of the tongue and oral motor movement.
On Monday He got reevaluated for feeding therapy to start again, and once again I was pissed because they made me feel really crappy again. I personally think he is doing a little better because at least now he can eat an apple, pear, peach, grapes, ect. Without it being cooked first..as well as some additional foods but we have to add them to foods he likes and she was acting like it wasn't a big deal. Then he moves around a lot (because this is the same place he does OT/ST) and when he's in those therapies he is in the gym, or the play room..like he's not just sitting there and she assumed he didn't eat at the table for anything lol which he DOES for all meals and snacks. Ugh..I was so mad. And then she wouldn't tell me what to work on until the next session starts..
She did agree that his lack of chewing could be affecting his speech.
If anyone has experience with this I would love to hear some ideas. He is a great eater, when it's food he likes. He gets new options at every meal just to give him the option, a lot of time the new stuff will end up on the floor and he'll eat the other stuff. Last year I was told he has a texture aversion, but now I'm not so sure. In the new eval it was mentioned that he could just be uncomfortable with the new foods because they are more work.
I have thought about just saying..alright kiddo, here are your options now, take it or leave it. But in the back of my mind I don't want my kid not to eat..and what IF it's a texture aversion, would it be considered cruel.
I'm a first time mom, so I love to hear some advice for more experienced moms. Especially those who have worked with oral motor delays.