Jonah boy.

pic from last summer at food therapy

 

it's time I write about the journey we have been on with Jonah.

he is such a special boy.

unique, one of a kind.

he makes me laugh like no one else, and he is a free spirit with his own way of thinking.

he also has some behaviors that are different, that have been a struggle since he was really young.

the main struggle has been his sensory aversion to food.

it started when he was really young, like 2 years old.

the dry heaving, the crying at meal times, or sight of certain foods/smells, and even the throwing up with certain things in his range of smell or mouth.

 for a long time I was so discouraged, feeling like maybe he was just a really picky eater,

that I was failing as his mom to get him to eat the foods that his body needed.

we tried nearly everything to get him to eat most foods,

but it was a failing battle.

after much discouragement, tears, and frustration from all of us with meal time for Jonah I began to realize that we needed help.

and quickly things fell into place.

my mom shared an article with me about children doing food therapy,

something that I had never even heard of.

we moved to Akron for Todd's residency and found out that the childrens hospital here had a whole program for kids like Jonah!

It was the greatest miracle for us.

We were no longer alone in this struggle.

 

so, Jonah has been doing food therapy almost weekly for about 2 years now.

his therapist Miss Kay is amazing.

I love her.

Jonah has come so far.

he has gone from crying at meal time, hiding under the table, running away, and screaming

to now sitting at the table, responding with. "no thank you" (most of the time) when he doesn't want to eat something.

he can tolerate smells of food better, and no longer plugs his nose during dinner or turns to the wall.

his fear of foods has decreased so much, and he knows now that tasting new things,

although scary for him, will not hurt him, and that he can do it.

not every meal time is always pleasant with him,

but I think back to where we were and how far we have come.

he still has his food that he sticks to,

and he still wont eat things he is not familiar with.

and the "food exploring" that we do at home each day is not a walk in the park.

it is hard, and many times I have wanted to give up.

but, I can't, and I wont because I want to help him as much as I can while he is young.

I am so grateful for professionals who care so much about Jonah.

Miss Kay is his buddy, and has changed our life forever.

It seems that this will be a lifelong journey for our family with him,

 but I hope we continue to progress.

our progression has been one baby step at a time, but we are moving.

and even when I feel at times that he is not progressing,

 it feels so good to know that we are doing everything we can to help him.

I would love to help anyone who has this struggle with a child.

for so long I thought we were the only ones:)