FUNctional Communication, LLC

The sweetest little graduate before maternity leave! 🥹 Supporting families through breastfeeding challenges, bottle feeding difficulties, and infant feeding development is such an honor. Watching babies thrive is the BEST feeling! 💕

Thank you for the feedback 🥰

So honored and grateful to be named Best Speech Pathologist in Bixby for 2025! 💙

Thank you to all of my amazing families, clients, and supporters who trust me to be part of your journey. This wouldn’t be possible without you! 🗣️✨

Congratulations to the cutest little speech therapy graduate! 👏🏼🎉

ARFID vs. Picky Eating vs. Feeding Disorder: What’s the Difference? ✨

As an SLP working in a feeding clinic, I often meet families who come in feeling unsure how to describe what’s happening with their child’s eating. Is it just “picky eating”? Could it be ARFID or a feeding disorder like dysphagia? Let’s break it down 👇

🥦 Picky Eating is developmentally typical for many toddlers and preschoolers. These kids may:
• Have food preferences (often carbs!)
• Occasionally refuse new foods or textures
However, picky eaters still eat enough to meet growth and nutrition needs. Mealtimes might be frustrating, but their growth curve stays on track and they can usually expand their variety with time, modeling, and gentle exposure.

🚫 ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder) is a mental health diagnosis that goes beyond “being picky.” It’s not about body image, it’s about fear, discomfort, or lack of interest in eating. Children with ARFID may:
• Have intense anxiety about choking, vomiting, or sensory experiences
• Show extreme distress or panic with new foods
• Eat such limited foods that growth, nutrition, or social participation is affected.
SLPs often collaborate with psychologists, dietitians and occupational therapists.

🍽️ Pediatric Feeding Disorder (PFD) / Dysphagia involves underlying medical, motor, sensory, or behavioral difficulties that interfere with safe and efficient eating.
We might see:
• Coughing, choking, gagging, or wet vocal quality
• Difficulty chewing or moving food around the mouth
• Fatigue during meals
• Weight loss or poor weight gain
Feeding therapy for PFD focuses on strengthening oral-motor skills, supporting safe swallowing, improving endurance and helping families make mealtimes more positive and productive.

💬 In short:
• Picky eating = typical developmental phase.
• ARFID = psychological/behavioral disorder impacting intake.
• PFD/dysphagia = medical or motor-based feeding impairment

A feeding evaluation with an SLP and multidisciplinary team can help clarify what’s going on and build a plan that supports your child’s growth, safety and confidence with food. 💛