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Early
Education Playgroups and Special Events provide a stimulating and
nurturing environment for children to learn and practice new skills
during play. Playgroups include developmentally appropriate free play,
fine motor table activities, circle time, gross motor activities and
snack time.
Eating is a social experience; parents bring food for them, the child
in the TOTS program and their siblings. They eat together during Feeding Group with the other families at the TOTS center.
The project offers the following:
- Food-based activities that involve all sensory system
- Ideas and suggestions to carry out at home to facilitate progress
- A positive, casual atmosphere that encourages social interaction between children. It also allows parents to support each other.
- Participants have fun and get messy
Description
Community-based group facilitates experimenting with a variety of foods
in a natural environment setting. This also helps prepare them for
family outings and the pre-school experience. Tresco, Inc. pays for
the child in feeding group plus one adult. Other family members are
welcome, but Tresco, Inc. cannot pay for them
Background
Often times our hectic lives do not allow for a family-style meal where
conversation and exploration with food items becomes part of the
activity. This project was created in response of several parent’s
requests to provide an environment where children and families can eat
together in a social setting that encourages and models dialogue and
food testing. This activity is provided to families that either do not
want services at their home or would like their family to interact with
other families in the community
Benefits
This is an interdisciplinary approach that allows children to integrate several areas of development as follows:
- Speech Language Pathologist: Oral mechanics of eating
- Occupational Therapist: Sensory components of eating
- Developmental Specialist: Supporting overall feeding development
Benefits for the Nevada Site Feeding Group
- Eat lunch as a group. Share food with each other.
- Interactions and networking amongst families.
- Food-based and sensory activities as time and attention allows.
- Modeling by typically developing siblings.
- Activities are adapted to each child’s abilities and tolerance.
Benefits for the Local Restaurant Feeding Group
Follow typical restaurant routine including:
- Ordering and seating
- Selecting food/drinks
- Managing children
- Tolerating environment
- Enjoying and eating experience outside the home
Criteria to Determine Participation
It must be determined by each child’s team that one or more outcomes
would be best met by attending feeding group. This would become a
strategy on the IFSP. Children must have feeding, social/emotional,
sensory and/or speech/language related outcomes in their IFSP.
Recommendations and requests come from the IFSP team (Parent, Family
Service Coordinator and Therapist/s).