More Than Picky: Food Chaining with Cheri Fraker, CCC/SLP

More Than Picky: Food Chaining with Cheri Fraker, CCC/SLP

Cheri Fraker, CCC/SLP, is an ASHA certified pediatric speech language pathologist and oral feeding specialist. Cheri teaches the listener about her PreChaining and Food Chaining therapy programs, she provides many tips for parents and therapists, and explains how to treat infants and children struggling with severe feeding and swallowing problems. Cheri discusses complex treatment programs to avoid or reducing the severity of the most challenging pediatric feeding disorders. Cheri also offers mentoring services in season 2, sharing her thirty seven years of experience with the audience.

Episodes

7 years old, non-oral feeder, dysphagia, FTT, sensory processing disorder and a lot of fear

July 23, 2024 • 54 mins
Today I discuss my work with a seven year old child who was tube fed starting at age 4 months. He had years of therapy but did not make progress and even with tube feeds, weight gain was poor. I had to unravel his past, explore his prior diagnostics, win his trust and form a plan. In two years, we reached our goals with PreChaining and Food Chaining therapy, nutritional rehab and a comprehensive feeding team care plan. Want to know...
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Cheri’s Complete How-To DO Food Chaining Therapy: Fun and Functional Therapy

July 17, 2024 • 67 mins
This one is all about how I do my therapy. I talk you through what you would see if you observed my sessions. I describe in detail how to triage feeding disorders, what to say and do as you start your treatment program, how to troubleshoot problems and avoid shut down. I describe what to say when as you start Chaining. I describe how to correctly design a Food Chain. Food education, surprise foods and anchor foods matter. Use the r...
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Food Chaining: The Common Sense Home Program for ARFID, Extreme Food Selectivity and Problem Eating

July 15, 2024 • 72 mins
Overcoming picky or problem eating or treating ARFID requires you to taste new foods. That is a tall order. It can be frightening just thinking about it. So how do you learn about a new food and try a bite and feel safe? How do you find new foods that you will actually enjoy? Food Chaining creates chains, the links from the foods you like to eat to new foods that are very similar. We stack the deck in your favor by having you learn...
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Part 2 The Self Help Home Program for ARFID, Extreme Selective Eating or Long Term Picky Eating

July 1, 2024 • 58 mins
(Note: Please do not do this if you have food allergies or swallowing problems) Part two helps therapist’s set up an effective home program and additional instruction provided helps the patient try bites of new targeted foods at home. This self help program can supplement your therapy care plan for older kids, teens or adults with ARFID, extreme selective eating or years of picky/problem eating. What can you the patient also do to ...
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The Self Help Program that works for the child or adult with ARFID/Extreme Selectivity

June 25, 2024 • 62 mins
This podcast is for YOU. The patient. The individual dealing with ARFID or extreme food selectivity. Picky has become a huge problem. Fear has climbed to a level that isn’t healthy. Your nutritional status is a concern. Socially, it is hard to eat at a friend’s house or restaurant, and holidays make you feel sick. There are a lot of problems, that is why this is so hard to overcome. Let me make it easier for you. Let me teach you t...
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Picky for Years? Chaining Therapy for ARFID and Extreme Selectivity

June 21, 2024 • 42 mins
What do I DO in my therapy sessions? I find “the daily calm” and help the kids relax. I teach them how to learn about a food with their senses. I teach them how to crumb and achieve a test bite and then I teach them the varying motor plans when eating new foods. I teach them about the rating scales and developing advanced eating skills. We look at the few foods they may eat now and then, and we try to eat them more frequently, expa...
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ARFID

May 24, 2024 • 45 mins
Let’s talk about Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. There are several types of ARFID and Food Chaining can be a very effective tool for treating children, adolescents or any individual experiencing the challenges of ARFID. A customized Food Chaining program is a great way to change a life and open a child up to being able to enjoy new experiences with food.
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Treatment of a two-year-old with a history of extreme prematurity and dysphagia

April 24, 2024 • 26 mins
The feeding team evaluation and the oh so important first treatment sessions of the plan are discussed. This is the case history of a two-year-old born at 24 weeks. This child is a preemie grad with failure to thrive and aspiration of liquids. How do you start? Who needs to see the child? What does the home program look like? What other referrals do you need? Expand your team PreChaining therapy approach to meet the needs of the ch...
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The Art of Food Chaining: New Foods

April 18, 2024 • 48 mins
New without No! This podcast teaches the listener how to structure mealtimes, prepare the parents for their part following the home program and how to set the right tone at the table. This episode is full of tips to help you learn how to successfully offer new foods using a Food Chaining program. Sample Food Chains are discussed. I also discuss mastering the simple, elegant art of Food Chaining and expanding the diet with joy.
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Case Study: 6 Months Old with Severe Gagging. Picky or Problem Eating?

April 18, 2024 • 36 mins
This episode discusses how to complete your evaluation and set up successful transitions to spoon and cup and stop gagging from occurring. You can let the child treat their own problem! Self directed oral motor is always the best plan! Let’s talk about PreChaining!
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Part 3: Three Years Old with Only One Food in the Diet

April 17, 2024 • 29 mins
Part 3 discusses advancing your Food Chaining program to more solid foods for the child who has no core diet. The 6 steps and principles of the Pre and Food Chaining programs are explained in detail.
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Part 2 The Chains: Building A Core Diet. Three year old with only one food

April 17, 2024 • 22 mins
This is a short episode and it is part 2 of our last episode about a three year old with only one food, applesauce pouches. This one is a discussion of how to start sessions and your home program and I discuss what foods to try.
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Case 1: A Three Year Old with One Food: Treating Extreme Selectivity

April 17, 2024 • 60 mins
This episode is about how to assess and treat a three year old child with only one food in the diet: applesauce pouches. How would a PreChaining/Food Chaining driven pediatric feeding team evaluate and treat this child and literally teach the child how to eat? Want to know what you should do in sessions? Find out! This podcast actually tells you what to DO.
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Known. The Chaining pediatric feeding evaluation for the selective eater.

December 1, 2023 • 31 mins
This season will be all about cases. The Specifics on what to DO during a feeding evaluation and setting up child specific treatment plans. Diagnostic therapy helps a child be known. Then you can design the right plan, set the right tone and develop eyes that SEE.
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Recalculating route! How do I start a Food Chaining program?

December 1, 2023 • 25 mins
In this episode, I talk about the evaluation process, team care, building trust and developing eyes that SEE. I discuss what the parent needs to do at home and what the team should do. So how do you put the problem down to get things on track?
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Season 2 Finale: Food Chaining in the Real World

September 29, 2023 • 56 mins
You want to try Food Chaining. But how do you get started? How do you set up a snack time in a therapy session? What do you do in the beginning? I have seen a lot of things online that are described as Food Chaining, but they are not using the program as we designed it. What fruits and vegetables can I try? How do I coach a child to learn the skill of trying a new food? This IS Food Chaining! The right way. The easy way. Check it o...
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The Food Chaining Individualized Eating Profile: Launching An Effective Program

August 30, 2023 • 44 mins
Your evaluation forms matter! You will need a very detailed medical and nutritional history and the Individualized Eating Profile. The IEP consists of data from the growth chart, analysis of the three to five day food record, oral sensory motor age and patterns noted in the Food Chaining Intake Form. This information will help you fully know your patient and plan their customized and effective Chaining program. Take time to analyze...
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Leadership Mentoring 101: What is your work style? Become Your Best You!

July 26, 2023 • 38 mins
What are you doing to learn about Y-O-U. Who are you? You are the product. You are the resource that people are turning to and you need to understand how you learn, teach, counsel, guide and work with families or on interact on a team with other personalities. Do you communicate well with physicians? Expand your vision. The True Colors Assessment will be discussed. Are you green, orange, blue or gold? Let’s find out!
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Nipple Confusion or Breast/Bottle Preference? What is it? What to DO in feeding therapy.

July 23, 2023 • 33 mins
This episode addresses the issue of Nipple Confusion. Is it real? Or is it a preference? Or an oral motor problem showing itself in two distinct methods of feeding? Baby can’t or won’t take a bottle and mom has to return to work? This episode gives you ideas of how to help. Baby has taken a bottle but is now refusing breast? What do you DO? These are very treatable disorders. How can you build two great experiences?
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NEC for Therapists: Intro to Necrotizing Enterocolitis and Short Gut

July 23, 2023 • 25 mins
NEC is a horrible and poorly understood disease. “The Why’s “ behind it are hard for any medical professional to understand. We are still studying NEC and we need a lot more research. What is it? What happens? How can a therapist support a child and family? What does treatment look like? In NICU and at home? Learning about NEC made me a much better therapist and I have just scratched the surface of all there is to learn. We all hav...
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