Abstract
Food refusal in children occurs as a result of various factors, (e.g., medical conditions, premature birth), and can lead to oral aversion. In the current investigation, 2 fading procedures were evaluated for children exhibiting total food refusal and behaviors related to oral aversion. Two children received apparatus fading, in which the feeding apparatus was faded from a familiar item to the target utensil. One child received apparatus fading plus demand fading, in which the number of session trials was gradually increased. A multiple probe design was used to determine the effectiveness of both procedures in establishing consistent acceptance without refusal behaviors. Results indicate that apparatus fading alone did not produce consistent acceptance. Apparatus fading combined with demand fading appeared effective in establishing consistent acceptance of the target utensil. One implication is that multiple stimuli may contribute to oral aversion, making it necessary to use multiple fading techniques to achieve acceptance.