Sense-Able Nutrition

03/09/2026

Positive food experiences can happen anywhere!

Grandparents. Aunties. Uncles. Friends. Educators. Support workers. Every safe relationship creates another opportunity to learn.

You don’t have to do this alone.

02/09/2026

Supporting a child with feeding challenges can feel exhausting.

It’s easy to measure yourself by how much your child ate today, whether they tried the new food or whether dinner ended in tears. But those moments do not define your parenting.

Progress in feeding is rarely linear. Some days children surprise us. Other days they retreat to familiar foods. Both are normal. What creates lasting change is the relationship you build over months and years.

Your calm presence, your consistency and your willingness to keep offering opportunities matter far more than one difficult meal.

Looking after yourself is also part of supporting your child. A regulated parent is able to help a child regulate.

Take it easy on yourself too.

01/09/2026

This cartoon made me smile because it highlights something we rarely think about. As adults, we routinely avoid foods we dislike. We choose restaurants we enjoy, buy groceries we prefer and leave foods off our plates without judgement. Yet children are often expected to happily eat foods they find difficult. Children still need exposure to a wide variety of foods, but learning happens best when curiosity replaces pressure.

Cartoon credit: Connor Greene

26/08/2026

You are not failing.

One of the hardest parts of working with families is seeing the weight parents carry.

Parents often arrive believing they’ve somehow failed because their child won’t eat vegetables or because mealtimes end in tears.

But your child’s eating difficulties are not a report card on your parenting.

Children eat within the context of genetics, sensory processing, anxiety, neurodevelopment, learning history, health conditions and nervous system regulation.

Your role is to provide safety, consistency, opportunity and connection. When we shift our focus away from controlling intake and toward supporting the relationship with food, remarkable things often begin to happen.

20/08/2026

If you asked my children what Mum does for work, they would probably say, “She tells people to eat healthy food.” 😂

Food is certainly part of my job, but my work is much broader than telling people what they should eat.

Some days I am helping a child feel safe enough to sit near a food that their brain has labelled as strange or threatening. We might turn a toastie into a lollipop, build sandwich puzzles, make chickpea doughnuts in Lego shapes, or surround the “weird chicken” with trusted orange bodyguards.

Other days I am analysing nutrient intake, interpreting blood results, identifying nutritional gaps, writing reports, or creating a visual meal plan that a child and family can actually understand and use.

As a neuroaffirming dietitian, I support children, teenagers and adults with autism, ADHD, ARFID, picky eating, gut concerns, food reactions, nutrient deficiencies, meal planning, executive-function challenges and stressful family mealtimes.

I do not believe there is one perfect way to eat. My job is to understand the whole person and help food work more comfortably within their brain, body, family and real life.
Sometimes progress means trying a new food.

Sometimes it means reducing distress. Sometimes it means meeting nutrition needs without changing a single safe food.

Food is never just about food. It is about safety, health, connection, confidence and participation.

Not sure whether your situation is something I can help with?

Send me a message and we can work out the right next step.

19/08/2026

Many children I work with don’t avoid food because they dislike the flavour.

They avoid it because touching it feels overwhelming.

Wet, sticky, crumbly or unpredictable textures can trigger a strong sensory response before the food even reaches their mouth.

One simple strategy is reducing direct touch. Disposable gloves, tongs, forks, spoons or toothpicks create just enough distance for children to explore food while still participating.

These are not crutches, they are bridges.

As confidence grows, those supports often become less necessary.

Which tool could help your child explore food more comfortably this week?

18/08/2026

Many parents believe treating every child exactly the same is fair.

However, children with feeding differences often need different supports to achieve the same outcome.

This is called equity.

For example:
Equality: Every child is expected to eat broccoli.

Equity:
One child may need to smell it.
Another may touch it.
Another may lick it.
Another may already enjoy eating it.

Each child is progressing from where they are today.

True inclusion means accepting these different stages without judgement.

Ultimately our goal is belonging.

Every child deserves to feel welcome at the family table regardless of what is on their plate.

12/08/2026

Hope to see you there!

Sat 19 Sep 2026, Adelaide Convention Centre

11/08/2026

One of the biggest myths about feeding therapy is that success only counts when food is swallowed.

In reality, eating begins long before tasting.

Children first learn that food is safe by touching, smelling, stacking, squashing and exploring food.

Every one of those experiences builds familiarity. Familiarity reduces fear.

To many adults this tray looks messy. To me, it looks like learning, curiosity and confidence.

Because before children willingly eat... they almost always learn to play.

If your child prefers playing with food rather than eating it, don’t lose hope, it may be exactly where learning begins. Save this post for later.

07/05/2026

For those in WA, we hope to see you at the ADHD annual conference next month!