The chicken battle
Well, the school decided to start a foods program with Andrew. We need a foods program, because Andrew is convinced that he only needs like 5 foods he will eat, and then only sometimes and in some places. It's not just stubbornness (though trust me, that factors in) but it's also a sensory issue for Andrew, with textures, routines, and smells that complicate things.
So the first item on the food plan list was chicken. We chose this one because Andrew will already eat chicken in some settings, and we want to generalize something he's already familiar with. (of note, he'll also only eat oreo cookies in some settings, but we thought that not something we needed to generalize :))
You have to realize, Andrew is enormously bright, though that can be hard to tell since he's still largely non-verbal. This story illustrates that quite well. :)
The program works like this. Andrew is shown a piece of food, and whoever is working with him asks him to pick it up (showing him how to pick it up and saying "do this"). When he does that, he gets praised (which he loves). Then he's asked to touch his lips with the food, and then to take a bite, and we work bites from there. He does really well, and gets reinforced for each time he takes bites or does what's asked of him. (for more info on his therapy, commonly known as ABA, you need more than a blog, but it's amazing)
Well the school started this program, and said he was eating a "piece" of chicken in 30 minutes to an hour. They told me he was taking tiny bites. But I didn't realize (and couldn't) what tiny bites meant. To know that, you have to know what "piece" means. When I think piece of a chicken strip (or nugget) I think the size of a large gumball, or a 2-liter bottle lid. When they say piece, they mean the size of a nickel (including thickness). So when we say tiny, we mean so minuscule that you cannot tell from one bite to the next that he's actually taken one! hehe. The only way to know that he has eaten any is that when it's over the chicken is gone. :)
Now he's getting better, but I watched 30 minutes of this where I know he ate more chocolate in rewards than he would chicken in 10 settings. :) That, everyone, is a very smart boy!
It also bears noting, he'll eat half of a small order of popcorn chicken in one setting from KFC. Don't tell me he doesn't know the system! *grins*
So the first item on the food plan list was chicken. We chose this one because Andrew will already eat chicken in some settings, and we want to generalize something he's already familiar with. (of note, he'll also only eat oreo cookies in some settings, but we thought that not something we needed to generalize :))
You have to realize, Andrew is enormously bright, though that can be hard to tell since he's still largely non-verbal. This story illustrates that quite well. :)
The program works like this. Andrew is shown a piece of food, and whoever is working with him asks him to pick it up (showing him how to pick it up and saying "do this"). When he does that, he gets praised (which he loves). Then he's asked to touch his lips with the food, and then to take a bite, and we work bites from there. He does really well, and gets reinforced for each time he takes bites or does what's asked of him. (for more info on his therapy, commonly known as ABA, you need more than a blog, but it's amazing)
Well the school started this program, and said he was eating a "piece" of chicken in 30 minutes to an hour. They told me he was taking tiny bites. But I didn't realize (and couldn't) what tiny bites meant. To know that, you have to know what "piece" means. When I think piece of a chicken strip (or nugget) I think the size of a large gumball, or a 2-liter bottle lid. When they say piece, they mean the size of a nickel (including thickness). So when we say tiny, we mean so minuscule that you cannot tell from one bite to the next that he's actually taken one! hehe. The only way to know that he has eaten any is that when it's over the chicken is gone. :)
Now he's getting better, but I watched 30 minutes of this where I know he ate more chocolate in rewards than he would chicken in 10 settings. :) That, everyone, is a very smart boy!
It also bears noting, he'll eat half of a small order of popcorn chicken in one setting from KFC. Don't tell me he doesn't know the system! *grins*
posted by Nikki K at 11:46 AM
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