Pediatric Feeding Disorders

By Vivian Ibañez

It has been several years since the Pediatric Feeding Disorders Special Interest Group (PFD SIG) held an in-person annual meeting for members at the ABAI annual convention. However, interest in renewing the activities of this SIG has been growing. As such, the first goal will be to hold a meeting at next year’s annual convention to discuss how the PFD SIG can be reactivated (e.g., appointing board members according to ABAI SIG guidelines) and meet the needs of previous, current, and future members.

At present, the mission of the PFD SIG is to generate interest, foster collaborative research, share clinical information, and impact training, practice, and reimbursement for the evaluation and treatment of pediatric feeding disorders. In previous business meetings, the PFD SIG has discussed how to establish parameters for best practices (e.g., training needs, considerations for the multifactorial etiology of feeding disorders and care coordination needs, referrals to specialized behavioranalytic day-treatment programs), international training opportunities, and access to empirically supported treatment. Records of the PFD SIG also show a history of frequent discussions about working with insurers, and there have been recent inquiries on this topic. Therefore, in addition to reviewing guidelines for establishing the PFD SIG board at the next meeting, there will be time allocated to exchanging thoughts on how to navigate reimbursement for intensive feeding services and possible barriers that impact efficient and sustainable care by qualified providers for children with feeding disorders in day-treatment programs.

Anyone interested in joining or getting involved with the PFD SIG in some capacity is encouraged to contact Dr. Vivian Ibañez at vibanez@ufl.edu. I look forward to seeing everyone next May in Washington, DC!