Mealtime Partners, Inc.

It is essential that students receive adequate nutrition to be able to perform at their best in school. Mealtimes are a very important part of the school day (both socially and nutritionally) because many children eat both breakfast and lunch at school. However, children who cannot self-feed are treated differently from the mainstream student body. They spend their mealtimes with an adult. This might be a teacher’s aide, or a teacher, but the student does not sit and interact with other students in the same manner as their non-disabled peers. The physical presence of an adult in the immediate vicinity alters the dynamics of the experience. For a student whose educational needs are being met in mainstream classes, this can be a stigmatizing experience. It immediately inhibits the free flow of social interactions between other students.

It is not uncommon to find that as mainstreamed students with disabilities become teenagers they become reluctant to eat meals at school because of the stigma attached to being fed. They use all sorts of excuses about not being hungry or having had breakfast at home, etc. Alternately, they will choose to have liquid nutrition (Ensure, or a similar product) that they can drink out of the can using a straw that does not make it obvious that they cannot self-feed. Teachers and aides, in an attempt to help the student overcome their embarrassment, will arrange for them to eat in the classroom. This allows the student to eat in private but removes them from the experience of eating with their peers. It is a “Catch 22” situation. Many disabled students end up eating with a group of other disabled students in the cafeteria. They are, by default, isolated from their non-disabled peers, which is specifically what the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) intended to avoid. 

For this group of students, IEP goals should include normalizing, nonacademic experiences for them. For them, assistive technology (AT) can be a gateway to functioning independently in this setting. Students who use wheelchairs to meet their mobility needs are often deprived of the opportunity of eating with their peers by something as simple as the height of the school cafeteria table. Many powered wheelchairs are so tall that the arms of the chair prohibit it’s occupant from getting close enough to the cafeteria table to be able to eat comfortably. Without much difficulty this situation can be overcome by placing a computer table, that is height adjustable, at the end of an existing cafeteria table. The student can still sit with their classmates and can get close enough to the table to eat. In this situation, the computer table should be included as an AT requirement in their IEP documentation. 

This strategy can also be used to facilitate additional independent eating needs. For students who have limited arm movement, the computer table height can be raised enough to make it easier for the student to lift food from the table surface to their mouth. This approach is beneficial for students who have degenerative conditions such as Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy. For them, using a computer table allows adjustments to be made to accommodate their changing needs without changing the “look” of their mealtime situation. 

Adaptive utensils, dishes and dining devices (both manual and powered) should also be included as AT requirements in an IEP. The IEP goal should be to provide the student the means to be as independent as possible in an activity of daily living. This is a functional skill that will, once mastered, support them for the rest of their lives, and acquiring it prepares them for further education, employment, and independent living. 

In many cases, school staff rationalize that a student has assistance from a classroom aide during classes and that it is therefore logical that the aide simply continue supporting the student by feeding them meals. However, this philosophy neither meets the intent of IDEA nor gives the student the opportunity to become more self-sufficient. The goal should always be to facilitate the student becoming as independent as possible.

Measurable IEP goals that relate to independent eating should include a description of the problem: Janet is unable to self-feed. The current level of performance: she is neither able to finger feed or feed herself with a utensil, or (in the case of a student with a degenerative condition), Janet can no longer finger feed or use a utensil to feed herself. The level of change that is anticipated by the end of this IEP year: Janet will feed herself 10 bites of food independently at each meal. How this will be accomplished: Janet will be provided with a Mealtime Partner dining system that she will control using adaptive switches, which will allow her to feed herself.

Additionally, how the student’s progress will be measured during the year should be documented. In the case given above, Janet’s progress can be measured by her success rate at activating an adaptive switch, or, her ability to take food from the spoon without prompting, the number of bites of food she takes independently, etc.

We’ve included our primary product’s name in the above example because it is the most capable device of that type on the market. Needless to say, you would select the least expensive assistive product that would enable the student to accomplish the IEP goals set forth. For some, a tremor damping device, a special spoon, or even a special chair with appropriate positioning support may be all that is needed for them to eat independently.