Mealtime Ideas and Suggestions - Sensory System Information

Judy Benz Duncan, Occupational Therapist

Mealtime Ideas and Suggestions

Sensory System Information

TheraPlay4Kids.com

When we start to talk about mealtime issues that a child may be having, we need to look at how a child is processing and interpreting sensory information. The following give basic details on the sensory systems to consider that can impact a child’s behavior and eating challenges.

It is important to remember that none of the child’s sensory systems work alone. All the sensations work together, and a child with sensory integration deficits may display processing difficulties in one, or a combination of areas.

Visual Sense / Vision:

This includes how the food looks, how it is presented, the amount of food a child sees placed in front of them, new items that are different from what they are used to, position of food(s) on the plate, the color of the foods, the distance to reach to the food or drink

Tactile Sense / Touch

This includes touching the food with hands, body or face in order to get the food from the table/plate/bowl to the child’s mouth, if using utensils or fingers the child will feel the weight of the food, the texture of the food (in mouth or in hand), the shape of the food (slices, chunks, strips, etc.), how the food “feels” when chewed, moved around in the mouth, or on the tongue

Olfactory Sense / Smell

This includes how the food smells, how the smells from different foods intermingle, if certain foods make a child’s nose itch or eyes water, if certain smells cause gagging, if some smells cannot be tolerated by the child

Gustatory Sense / Taste

This includes how the food or drink tastes once it goes into the mouth, how the food tastes when licked, if the child thinks it will taste a certain way and then discovers it is not what they were thinking it would be like, acceptance of different spices and flavors

Auditory Sense / Hearing

This includes what we hear when we eat or chew our food, if the child is able to tolerate listening to themselves (or even others) eating hard crunchy foods, food that “snaps,” sounds crispy, or if they can handle hearing their teeth clinking together or dragging across each other as food is moved around in their mouth; they may choose soft “silent” foods over foods that “make noise” when eaten

Proprioception and Oral Motor Awareness

This may be a “sense” that many do not think about but includes the ability to know how full the mouth is, how much force is needed to chew food properly, how to maneuver the food from one side of mouth to the other, how to move the tongue out of the way to prevent biting oneself, where to place the food into the mouth to prevent any gag reflex or to improve acceptance of food into the mouth, how to achieve good lip closure to help keep food and liquids in the mouth

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