Parent Testimonial | Will’s mom

Our neurodivergent son, Will, has been a restricted eater for as long as we can remember. We used to pack dozens of a specific brand of power bars every time we went on vacation, just in case, he wouldn’t eat in unfamiliar restaurants. He would eat pizza, but only one brand. He refused to try new things, and when he did, he’d quickly spit them out. Even though his list of foods was small, we managed, until he started maxing out on that list. One by one, his “safe foods” dropped away. Grilled cheese, once a favorite, was suddenly off the table. We didn’t want to bribe him to eat or hide healthy ingredients in his food. We wanted him to genuinely expand his palate and feel comfortable trying new things. That’s when we called Carol Elliott. To say we felt desperate is an understatement.

From the start, Carol positioned herself as Will’s compassionate and experienced advocate. He immediately warmed up to her, something that doesn’t come easily for him. She completely “got” Will: his quirks, his likes and dislikes, his need for predictability. Instead of pushing against those things, she worked with them. Carol was patient, encouraging, nonjudgmental, and incredibly knowledgeable.

The progress has been extraordinary. Will went from eating mostly carb-heavy snacks to enjoying edamame, carrots, Gouda cheese, turkey and cheese subs, cheeseburger sliders, ramen bowls, and more. We recently attended a family wedding and, for the first time, didn’t have to pack power bars. Will ate from the buffet! Carol truly changed his life (and ours). She has been such a gift to our family, and we’re forever grateful for her kindness and expertise.

Debbie, mom of Will age 13

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”