51. Picky Eating Through a Sensory Emotional Lens

Picky eating isn’t just about preferences — it’s about how a child is experiencing their world. Today’s episode is one that many of you have been requesting — we’re diving deep into picky eating, not from a behavioral or surface-level view, but through the powerful lens of sensory and emotional processing. This topic often resurfaces during times of change and stress — like the transition from the school year to summer — and it's important to look beneath the surface to understand why mealtime can become such a battleground.

 

We’ll explore how a child’s sensory-emotional way of being impacts their experience with food, what their behaviors might be trying to communicate, and how you can support them in feeling safer and more confident with eating.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• The sensory motor foundations involved in eating: proprioception, tactile processing, vestibular processing, core strength and stability, and motor planning

• How different Sensory Emotional Personality (SEP) styles shape a child’s food preferences and responses

• Practical, compassionate strategies to support your child — tailored to their unique SEP style

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We know that sensory-motor experiences play a significant role in a child’s daily life and emotional well-being. Using playful interactions, The Sensory Emotional Center of Learning is designed to bring our therapeutic model, the Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™, into your home or work.

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Want more resources? Please visit our blog: https://greatkidsplace.com/category/blog/

and https://sensoryemotional.org/

 

About

Michele Parkins MS, OTR/L IMH-E®

Founder & Director, Great Kids Place 

Founder, Sensory Emotional Engagement Model™

Michele is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with Sensory Processing and Integration Disorders and challenges in social-emotional development. She is also a parent of two sensory kids. Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books.  She hopes to help everyone - children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality style and ways to find strength and joy within them.