Welcome to the Circles to Feeding™ Blog

Feeding therapy is a complex area of practice. With so many overlapping factors – oral skills, sensory experiences, medical conditions, and mealtime relationships – it’s easy for speech pathologists, occupational therapists and other health professionals to feel overwhelmed or fragmented in their approach. What’s often missing is a clear map to guide the way.

That’s why I developed the Circles to Feeding™ Approach – a responsive feeding therapy model that helps therapists navigate this complexity with clarity, while keeping the child’s comfort and connection at the centre.

In this post, I’ll share a high-level overview of the approach: what it is, why it matters, and how it supports children and families to move toward Feeding Freedom.

Redefining Mealtime Success as Feeding Freedom

Not every child’s feeding journey looks the same. Traditional definitions of “success” often focus only on caloric intake or skill acquisition (e.g. eating certain foods, drinking from certain cups)...

Feeding isn’t only about oral skills, sensory experiences, or mealtime routines. Beneath all of that sits another crucial factor – the gastrointestinal (GI) system.

The GI system plays a central role in how children experience eating. In the Circles to Feeding™ Approach, Comfort is the foundation that allows curiosity and capability to grow. When children feel physiologically comfortable – including comfort within the gastrointestinal system – they are in their best state to explore, learn, and develop feeding skills. I often describe this as “learning mode.” When comfort is missing, children are more likely to shift into “protection mode,” where refusal, aversion, and stress dominate.

In this post, I’ll share why gastrointestinal and allergy issues are so important in feeding, what the research tells us, and how health professionals can support children and families without stepping outside their scope of practice.

Why Do We Need to Know About Gastrointestinal Issues?

The gastr...

When we think about feeding therapy, we often focus on oral motor skills, sensory experiences, or nutrition. But one of the most overlooked yet critical elements is autonomy.

Children don’t just need to learn how to eat; they need to feel in control of their eating experiences. Without autonomy, even the best therapy strategies can fall flat. In the Circles to Feeding™ Approach, autonomy is a key foundation for moving toward Feeding Freedom – where mealtimes feel safe, nourishing, and free from pressure.

So, how do we respect a child’s autonomy while still supporting their progress? Let’s explore why autonomy matters in feeding therapy and what it looks like in practice.

Autonomy & The Division of Responsibility (DOR)

If we want to support autonomy, we first need to make sure we’re giving children the space to make decisions about eating—and that starts with Division of Responsibility (DOR).

The DOR model, developed by Ellyn Satter, is a simple but powerful framework that helps de...