Module 1: Working Within Scope & Safety Considerations

  1. Identify the underlying causes of pediatric feeding challenges, including medical, sensory, skill-based, and behavioral factors.

  2. Describe the process for conducting an initial feeding assessment to ensure appropriate screening for medical and nutritional concerns before intervention.

  3. Develop an interdisciplinary collaboration plan by coordinating with relevant professionals (e.g., SLPs, OTs, RDs, medical providers) to ensure a comprehensive approach to feeding intervention.

Module 2: Food Selection & Individualized Planning

  1. Conduct a preference assessment to create an individualized food inventory (i.e., total food list) to guide systematic food expansion and prevent food jags.

  2. Implement structured caregiver interviews to identify socially significant food goals that enhance the child’s participation in daily routines (e.g., school lunches, family meals, social events).

  3. Integrate recommendations from interdisciplinary team members to ensure nutritional adequacy, optimize digestion and elimination, and align with the child’s preferences.

  4. Analyze patterns in food acceptance to determine functionally relevant “food stretches” based on key properties (e.g., texture, temperature, brand).

Module 3: Motivation & Engagement Strategies

  1. Identify and address conditioned aversions, anxiety, and avoidance behaviors related to food exposure using behavioral principles.

  2. Apply reinforcement strategies to increase child engagement in food exposure and exploration.

  3. Design a structured feeding routine (Adventure Bites Practice) that incorporates fading, shaping, and reinforcement to increase participation in new food exposures.

Module 4: Establishing a Child-Led Starting Point

  1. Implement two rank-ordering strategies to determine a developmentally appropriate starting point for food exposure.

  2. Identify environmental and contextual variables that optimize participation in structured feeding routines (e.g., location, timing, materials).

  3. Conduct a structured pretest (Adventure Bite Pretest) to determine baseline responses to novel foods and inform individualized treatment planning.

Module 5: Implementation & Data Collection

  1. Implement the Adventure Bites Practice framework, including procedural steps, session frequency, and response expectations.

  2. Utilize a simple data collection system to track progress and adjust intervention strategies based on child responses.

  3. Apply a systematic troubleshooting framework to modify intervention components in response to behavioral barriers (e.g., escape-maintained behaviors, food refusals, negative reinforcement contingencies).

Module 6: Generalization to Mealtimes

  1. Implement procedures to transition learned feeding behaviors from structured practice to natural mealtime contexts.

  2. Develop individualized fading plans to systematically increase the quantity and variety of accepted foods over time.

  3. Utilize evidence-based strategies to promote the maintenance and generalization of new food acceptance into daily routines.