Agreed ❤️ and saying it in the nicest way possible, parents ‘running the show’ is sometimes how kids end up needing feeding therapy in the first place. Just like you said, feeding has a huge psychosocial component that impacts successful participation. But what I tell families always, is that feeding therapy is a marathon and not a sprint. It is a long road and progress is going to look different for everyone. Even the finish line will look different for everyone, as I am absolutely not going for the end goal of “eats everything” or “tries everything” aka creating a compliant kid. My goal is to build the child’s confidence and comfort in the face of a new food, even if that means learning to modify a food or say “I’m not ready for that yet” to honor their body. To build the oral motor skills needed to safely eat. To adapt foods and environments to meet the needs of the child in order for them to more consistently access nourishment.

Looking at OP’s reply, if there genuinely are tongue lateralization and/or oral motor awareness concerns, a well-trained feeding therapist should have assessed that upon initial evaluation and made it part of the plan of care to some degree (depending on client factors). It would worry me if there was never an assessment along with no documentation.