Brief Report: Packing Treatment Comparison and Use of a Chaser to Increase Swallowing for a Clinical Case.

The team worked with one preschooler who had autism and packed every bite.

They compared four ways to end the mealtime stand-off: a sip of water, a spoon of smooth puree, brushing the food around the mouth, or just moving the spoon away.

Mom gave each tactic a turn in rapid rotation while the researchers timed how fast the child swallowed.

The tiny drink after each bite wiped packing out and pushed swallowing to 100%.

Swallowing happened faster with the drink than with brushing or moving on.

Puree worked, but the clear winner was the quick sip of water.

Griffith et al. (2012) showed the same thing a decade earlier: a chaser beats packing in three kids with feeding disorders.

Levin et al. (2014) bundled the chaser with other tricks and still saw success; Taylor (2022) proves the sip alone is enough, so you can skip the extra steps.

Whipple et al. (2020) used simultaneous presentation instead of a chaser and also cut packing, giving you two single-move options to pick from.

You now have a zero-cost, zero-escape tool for packing. Keep a cup of water at the table. After any bite that sits in the mouth, offer a tiny sip. No extra equipment, no tears, just swallow and move on. Try it first before layering in harder tactics.