Increasing self-drinking for children with feeding disorders.

The team worked with two children who would not drink on their own. Both had feeding disorders.

They used differential positive reinforcement. When a child took a sip alone, they got a small toy or sticker right away. No one forced the cup to stay at their lips.

Both children started to reach for the cup and swallow more often. The toys worked as rewards.

Self-drinking kept growing while the rewards stayed small and easy to give.

Geckeler et al. (2000) also used rewards, but they added shaping and stopped giving attention for refusal. Their child moved from tube feeds to full meals. The new study shows you can skip shaping and still gain self-drinking with simple tangible rewards.

Pitchford et al. (2019) found that many children with Down syndrome have trouble swallowing. The 2015 method gives these children a low-stress way to practice drinking without any physical pressure.

Hoffman et al. (1969) showed that even ducklings will eat when a special light appears. The idea is the same: a non-food cue can control feeding. Perez et al. (2015) move that idea into a clinic and replace the light with a toy.

You can add a quick tangible reward the next time a child avoids the cup. No need to hold the cup in place or run a full shaping plan. Start with one sip equals one sticker, track the data, and fade the toys once drinking is steady. The whole program fits inside regular snack time.