Get Permission is a relationship-based approach used to support families who have children with feeding challenges. The approach is rooted in the principles of responsive feeding and actively promotes a child’s autonomy while fostering connection, trust, and consistent communication between the child and caregiver. In this approach, adults support children to “give permission” by demonstrating physical and emotional readiness for eating. Get Permission strategies are based on typical development and help children discover their internal drive to eat through appetite, enjoyment, and relationships.
Children who participate in feeding therapy using the Get Permission Approach develop the skill, confidence, and internal motivation they need to thrive. Families who adopt the principles of the Get Permission approach learn to respect a child’s individual differences while helping them to participate in mealtimes, feel celebrated, and develop a positive relationship with food. As a result, children learn to try new foods independently and enjoy eating without pressure. Therapists who use Get Permission benefit from understanding how they might support parents and children in a pressure-free way that is rich with practical strategies for treatment.
Feeding is complicated and requires collaboration with team members including parents.
The Get Permission Approach acknowledges that children eat best when they feel well.
The Get Permission Approach acknowledges that feeding is a relationship.
The Get Permission Approach acknowledges that eating is built on a foundation of positive developmentally appropriate experiences.
How can grasshoppers help parents and feeding professionals teach anxious eaters about new foods?
Marsha Dunn Klein, an internationally-known feeding therapist, provides the answer in this book, highlighting that most anxious eaters do not enjoy the sensations and variability of new foods. In seeking to help them, she asks what you’d need to do to help yourself try a worrisome new food, such as a grasshopper.