Interventions for Autistic Children with Behavioral Feeding Needs: A Scoping Review
Authors: Anne Marie Clancy, Karen O’Driscoll; Julie Regan; Irene Patricia Walsh
Advances in Autism (2025) 11 (4): 348-360
https://www.emerald.com/aia/article/11/4/348/1276848/Interventions-for-autistic-children-wit
This article – a recent offering by Advances in Autism – represents an effort to understand if and how research studies on non-behavioral interventions for autistics include any foci on the emotional impact of feeding challenges – either on the autistic or their caregivers. It was a relatively small literature review, with only nine studies meeting criteria to be included. However, they diversely represented three fields involved in providing feeding therapy (and doing research on it): psychology, occupational therapy and multi-disciplinary.
Main takeaways include:
— Nope, research (at least not these nine studies) is not focusing on the emotional elements involved – either how feeding challenges impact the autistic or the family members. These authors think it would be a good idea to do so in future research, as understanding the emotional impacts may help guide clinicians in creating more targeted and/or more effective interventions.
— Feeding challenges are complex and can stem from various areas, as evidenced by the fact that multiple disciplines (and multi-disciplinary teams) are doing research. This implies that a multi-disciplinary approach is appropriate and needed to effectively assess and treat feeding challenges.
— In the nine studies, the most cited element of intervention was parent education. While there is no comment on the effectiveness of the parent education, it is indication that there is pervasive belief (by the people creating treatment programs and/or by researchers) that parent education is one of the more important elements of a treatment program.
Musings:
— The article mentions that research shows behavioral interventions are most effective at increasing oral intake. My understanding was that behavioral interventions showed effective initial increase in intake, but that gains were not sustained (behavioral interventions = in-the-moment motivation/reward/scare tactics to eat, but do not improve overall feeding skill. Once the “carrot” is removed, gains are often lost.). However, a quick search shows me I might be wrong – that the literature might actually show some long term gains (though admittedly there are more studies for 6-12 months than any longer than that).
My Queries:
— If you are a parent who has participated in a feeding program/therapy of some kind, did you receive parent education? Would you say it was one of the most important elements of the program? If not, why not?
— If you are a parent who has participated in feeding therapy for your child, was there any element that focused on your child’s or your emotional well-being? If not, do you have ideas about what would be helpful for your child or you?
— If you are a professional, what elements of parent education have you found most helpful in your practice?
— If you are a professional who uses behavioral interventions, do you have a sense of whether or not your clients have maintained their therapeutic gains?
I’d love to hear your thoughts!
