Dehumanization and Restraint in ABA-based Feeding "Therapies:" What you need to know

Join us for this special presentation with Caroline Braun.

Behavioral approaches to feeding intervention attempt to increase children’s variety and volume of food intake while also claiming to eliminate or diminish challenging mealtime behaviors. Behavioral approaches to feeding do not develop intrinsic motivation for eating, honor children’s mealtime cues, or teach children to honor and interpret vital biological cues such as hunger and satiety. 

Instead, behavioral interventions for feeding rely upon the use of external rewards to “get” children to eat while also frequently incorporating the use of highly aversive procedures such as force-feeding and restraint to ensure compliance. 

We know that restraint has a devastating effect on children’s emotional and psychological well-being. We know that fear and stress actively suppress our appetites and the desire to eat. So why would we intentionally subject children to stressful events like restraint and then expect them to want to eat? 

Caroline Braun is an Autistic speech-language pathologist specializing in the treatment of complex motor speech, language, and feeding needs. She is the owner of a neurodiversity-affirming private practice and a therapy advisor for the Therapist Neurodiversity Collective. She is passionate about raising awareness of traumatizing feeding practices and advocating for responsive approaches to feeding therapy.

Support the show