Use of texture fading in the treatment of food selectivity

Children with feeding disorders often display severe food selectivity. For many of these children, consuming highly textured foods may be aversive or potentially dangerous because of frequent gagging. The purpose of this stud y was to demonstrate the efficacy of texture fading in the treatment of foo d selectivity displayed by 4 children. Treatment involved the gradual addit ion of higher textures based on the results of periodic probes. In addition , food acceptance and swallowing were reinforced, while food refusal and fo od expulsion were placed on extinction. Results showed that all participant s successfully advanced to consumption of age-appropriate texture and volum e. The results suggest that texture fading with intermittent probes at high er textures may be an effective method for the treatment of food selectivit y by texture.