Parent Testimonial | Maddux’s mom

When our son was around 2 years old, he took a pretty nasty fall into a windowsill that resulted in him having to get 8 stitches in his tongue. About 6 months after that, we noticed that he was starting to become a pretty picky eater. Foods that he had been eating no problem, now were a struggle. He would gag on certain foods which we were told at his yearly well visit, was just him being picky and his way of getting out of eating foods he did not want to eat. This went on for years. He was gaining weight so when I would bring up his eating habits, they were written off as “picky eating”. Fast-forward to February 2023, I took him in for his 6 year checkup to find that he had only gained one pound from the age of 5-6. After explaining (again) his eating habits and telling him the reason that he was not gaining weight was because he only will eat about 5 foods and is completely content going all day without eating, their solution was getting bloodwork done. 

I had done some research on feeding therapy before this time (mom instinct was telling me something was just not right) and had found Carol’s site. As soon as I left that appointment, I immediately called her. She was the first medical professional that I felt asked the right questions and believed that there was something else going on other than just a “picky eater” situation. 

While we were waiting to see her, she told me that I needed to get him into a pediatric nutritionist to ensure that he did not start losing weight and recommended that we get him in to see Dr. Dodson an ENT at the children’s hospital. Both recommendations made a world of difference. Upon examination at the ENT, we found out that his adenoids were extremely enlarged, and he had about 5-10% access to his nasal airway. 

At this point, he had one ear infection and one case of strep throat, so we had no reason to think that his adenoids were the root cause of his eating issues. Carol did though! Dr. Dodson told us that the tongue injury was more than likely related to inflamed adenoids and that they had been slowly getting bigger and bigger which led to his eating getting harder and harder for him because he was trying to breathe, chew and swallow all using his mouth. 

We got his adenoids removed in May and started feeding with Carol in June. At this time, even though structurally he was good, after years struggling with eating, he had a massive mental block when it came to trying new foods. Carol was compassionate with both of us. As a mom, having the guilt of learning that your child was struggling more than either of you realized was hard and I never once felt that she was judging me for that. 

She kept the session fun and lighthearted but also structured which is what he needed. When she started working with him, he was eating 5-7 foods regularly and would not try any new foods or even branch off from different variations of his safe foods. We finished working with Carol at the beginning of January 2024. When he graduated, he had tried 85+ new foods and he is currently 2 foods away from 100 new foods since we started our journey with Carol! 

She was a lifesaver not only for our son but our family as a whole. He has learned that new foods are not scary. We love Carol and cannot imagine where we would be right now without our experience working with her.

Parent Testimonial | Parents of Elias

Eating birthday cake at a party for the first time!

After our son was diagnosed with autism in December of 2018, it was a challenge figuring out how to best support him and what supports he needed. From the time we started introducing foods to Elias during his first year, it was hard. We would give him cheerios when he was a year old, and he would choke on them. We tried and again and again and the same result. He always preferred softer foods. Eventually at around 2.5 years old the only thing we could get him to eat was yogurt pouches and baby food pouches. He ate like that for a year, and I would get frustrated going to our doctor and all they would say is to continue to try and put foods in front of him. I knew it had to be more than just being picky with foods. 

I found Carol Elliott at Pediatric Feeding Services, and we scheduled an evaluation. After our initial appointment, she referred us to ENT due to concerns about mouth breathing, as well as a tongue tie that appeared to affect his ability to chew and swallow whole food. Things were coming together and starting to make sense to us.  We had his adenoids removed and his tongue tie released.  After that, the real journey began!  We had to start with learning how to sit in a seat and accept a spoon (not just a pouch) along with other pureed foods and to drink from a variety of straws and cups.  We worked on oral motor exercises and specific techniques to teach him how to chew.  It was A LOT of hard work with ups and downs, but after 3 years of working with Carol, Elias’ progress has been amazing!  He now knows how to chew!! He will try new foods and will pretty much eat anything!  He’s not even picky! I highly recommend Carol Elliott if your child is struggling with eating.

Hugs on graduation day!

Crunching on a veggie straw after much practice.

Eating and loving mac and cheese

Banana bread and a fork!

Parent Testimonial | Tanner's Mom

Graduation day! Celebrating with cup cakes!

When we first reached out to Carol to help our son, Tanner, we were no strangers to feeding challenges. We had we been through the gauntlet with our older child’s early feeding issues and came out successfully thanks to feeding therapy. We were also quite familiar with feeding issues, as I provided behavioral support within a comprehensive feeding therapy program for several years. Even with our previous experiences both personally and professionally, we needed help and Carol stepped up to the task. During the initial assessment, we learned that Tanner was not chewing correctly due to a tricky tongue tie. She connected us with pediatric dentists and supported us through preparation and aftercare of this procedure (even coming to our house on a Saturday when I called her in a panic to assure me I was performing the exercises correctly). Tanner’s eating took off and much to our relief, the stress around meals began to subside. 

“Carol’s expertise in evidence-based feeding treatment, in combination with her creativity and unwavering patience seem to be the recipe for success that enables her to connect with kids and to support parents along the journey as well.”

— Quote Source

Week after week, Carol appeared at our home greeting us with a bright smile and an enthusiastic, “Hello!”. We worked together to identify goals and a treatment plan that would work with our family dynamics, parenting styles, and mealtime logistics.

I could go on and on, but I think Tanner’s actions may speak for themselves. For the first few sessions, when things got tough, Tanner would turn to Carol and say, “Bye Bye! Bye Bye!”, while pointing insistently at the door. As we all got into the rhythm of treatment and everyone’s confidence increased, Tanner started waiting by the window each week and squealed with delight, “Ms. Carol coming! Time to eat!”. We knew we ready to graduate from feeding therapy when one night during dinner, Tanner looked down at his plate and announced he was “all done”, and it wasn’t because he was refusing to eat. He had actually finished his meal! He asked me to take a picture. He was so proud of himself for eating his meatballs, carrots, and oranges and he wanted to share his success with his good friend, Ms. Carol.

“All done with meatballs, carrots and oranges”

Parent Testimonial | Parents of Eli

Feeding was never a struggle we envisioned having with our child. Therefore, when our son started having difficulties with progressing beyond pureed baby foods and bottled milk, we naturally turned to our pediatrician for guidance. He referred us to a local Occupational Therapist with a specialty for helping children with texture issues manifested as feeding difficulties. After all, most of his issues were with vomiting when new foods/textures were introduced. Unfortunately, they were unable to produce a worthwhile treatment plan. After 6 months of watching them try to teach our son to play with food and maybe lick some of it as well, we grew weary of the prescribed treatment plan, and sought another professional.

“What we found has truly been nothing short of a miracle. Carol has been an absolute angel for our son. She immediately recognized that his struggles were not attributable to texture issues and new foods, but rather due to a failed development in his ability to properly chew. She immediately crafted a detailed care plan that began to change our lives…and his!”

— Mom and Dad of Eli

Our son was just over 2 years old when we started working with the Occupational Therapist referred by our pediatrician. And after 6 months of endless battles to eat solid food, recurring bouts of projectile vomiting, and an overwhelming sense of defeat, Carol came in and made believers out of us! After just over a year of therapy with Carol, our son is no longer avoiding meals, but asking for them! He is no longer fighting us on every bite, but rather feeding himself! He no longer eats pureed foods, but a variety of foods including pastas, French fries, potatoes, noodles, meats, candies, vegetables, fruits, pie, and so much more! We shared Thanksgiving dinner together and he ate everything (stuffing, turkey, sweet potatoes, green beans, etc)! He was able to eat his first bite of birthday cake EVER for his 3rd birthday! So many tear-jerking moments seeing him progress so quickly with the help and guidance that Carol provided.

Above all else, Carol has been extremely accommodating throughout the pandemic, and respectfully masks and sanitizes when in our home. She traveled to see our boy and held virtual sessions when needed. She has been kind to our boy, understanding with our entire family, and supportive for my wife and I. Honestly, I don’t know where we would be today, or how we would be coping with the ongoing struggles had we not began working with Carol. It is without hesitation that we absolutely recommend Carol to anyone experiencing feeding challenges with their child.