Sarah Wells
Peadiatric dietitian (APD), Certified Feeding Therapist and Mum with a passion for infants, children and adolescents with feeding challenges.
My Mission:
To achieve YOUR child’s version of good nutrition to reach their full potential!
To provide a child-centric service that is neuro affirming, inclusive and supportive of sensory differences.
“Eating is one of the most sensory rich experiences we can do as humans!”
I am an Accredited Practicing Dietitian (APD) with 10 years experience. I have post graduate qualifications in Peadiatrics and Feeding Therapy. I am extremely passionate about infant and child nutrition with a specific focus on neurodiverse conditions, sensory sensitivities and complex feeding challenges. I am also a mum of 3-year old twin boys, both of which are neurodivergent. My lived experience as a mum of neurodivergent ex 23 weeker twins coupled with my professional interest to support families with neurodiverse children is the inspiration behind this new venture at Sensory Nutrition.
As a mum of twin boys with sensory sensitivities, I understand first hand the challenges parents/caregivers face when trying to get their little one to eat well! Mealtimes become a battleground. The infant/child feeding relationship begins to suffer. Often questioning my parenting skills and why my boys avoided specific food groups like fruit and vegetables. The more you push, the more beige/plain, crunchy and restricted their diet becomes!
Research has shown a strong connection between nurodivergence and sensory processing difficulties. The prevalence of sensory processing disorder is even higher among children that are Autistic at 80-90%.
Sensory processing refers to the way a person registers, organises and perceives input from the external environment. Sensory inputs can include visual, olfactory (smell), gustatory (taste), auditory (sound), tactile (touch) and vestibular (movement). Sometimes the way this sensory information is registered and interpreted by the brain and nervous system can be impaired. This is called Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD).
Children with sensory sensitivities/SPD can have difficulty tolerating new experiences such as changes to physical properties of food. Take a punnet of blueberries. One blueberry can be sour, sweet, seedy, squishy, dark/plale in colour and smell different to the next berry in the punnet. Talk about an explosion of different properties! The inability to ancitipate these changes can be extremely overwelming and trigger feelings of anxiety. Many children therefore will gravitate toward foods that do not change such as foods that come from a packet or fast food restaurants. The chicken nugget is a perfect example.
Every Child is Unique.
Every Child’s Feeding Journey is Unique.
“I strive to build on a child's strengths while tailoring support to their specific sensory preferences whilst working to fill nutritional gaps in an environment that is child-led and stress free”
Tailored Dietary Advice and Support
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Autism, ADHD, AuDHD
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Sensory Processing Disorder, Sensory Sensitivities and Food Aversions
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Picky Eating and Restricted Diets
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Poor Growth and Failure to Thrive
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Paediatric Feeding Disorder/ARFID
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Chromosomal Abnormalities i.e Downs Syndrome
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Global Development Delay
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Allergies/Intolerances
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Gastrointestinal: Constipation and Reflux
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Oral Nutritional Supplements, Tube Feeds and Weaning
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Special Diets i.e Vegetarian
How Can I Help You?
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Dietary Assessments
Comprehensive assessment of medical history, birth history, developmental milestones, feeding skills, growth, dietary intake and variety, preferred foods, activity levels, mealtime envionment and sensory profiling.
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General Dietary Advice
Introducing Solids, Special Diets i.e Vegetarian, Healthy Lunchboxes, School Support.
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Dietary Advice Tailored to Sensory Needs
Some children display preferences for specific physical properties of a food i.e crunchy textures. All foods/feeding strategies are tailored to your child’s sensory needs. Strategies surrounding meal planning and Food Jags are also available.
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Feeding Assessments
Comprehensive assessment to understand your child’s barriers to feeding including eating/drinking skills, response to new/preferred foods and mealtime environment.
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Feeding Therapy
Using evidenced based approaches including play. Therapy is tailored to your child’s developmental age, feeding/eating skills and cognitive stage.
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Early Learning Centre, Kinder and School Visits
It is essential that your child’s learning environment is supportive of eating. Children spend long hours in these environments and poor nutrition can compromise energy levels, ability to focus and learning. I can provide recommendations and staff education to overcome observed barriers i.e additional time to eat.
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Mealtime Support
Work with families to create a positive mealtime environment, structure/routine, mealtime behaviours and ability to transfer these skills to other settings i.e school. Supportive of feeding approaches including Division of Responsibility (DoR).
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Recommendations for Oral Nutritional Supplements
Support and tailored recommendations for children requiring an oral nutritional supplements for specific conditions i.e poor growth and/or nutrient deficiencies.
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Report Writing
NDIS Progress Reports and Letters of Support for special dietary considerations/nutritional supplements
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Workshops, Presentations and Resources
“It is possible for a child to meet their nutritional needs with a diet that appears outside of the box but tailored to their sensory preferences”
Multiple Appointment Options!
Attending in clinic appointments can be overwhelming for little people. One ‘bad morning’ can lead to dysregulation and difficulty engaging with therapy in session. Missed appointments also result in fees.
For some little people, the environment (home versus in clinic) also matters! Sensitivity to foreign environments can also lead to difficulty transferring learned skills from clinic into the home.
I can offer dietetic services and feeding therapy in the comfort of your own home. While I am predominantly situated in the southern suburbs, I am able to provide services across Adelaide, South Australia.
Can’t make it into clinic as your child is having a bad day? No worries – I can also offer phone and telehealth consults.
Get Social
Help! My Child Will Only Eat Beige Food!
Did You Know?
The 10 Times Rule for New Foods
How to Support Your Child With Sensory Food Aversions
How We Talk About Food Matters!
ARFID and Neuro Affirming Model of Care
