The Sequential Oral Sensory (S.O.S) Approach to Feeding is a trans-disciplinary program for assessing and treating children with feeding difficulties and weight/growth problems from birth to 18 years. It integrates posture, sensory, motor, behavioral/learning, medical, and nutritional factors to comprehensively evaluate and manage children with feeding/growth problems.
- Attendees receive foundational information regarding feeding development, evaluation, and SOS Treatment.
- Training is delivered in a Hybrid format = 6 hours online, pre-recorded content + 4 days in-person, live and on-site at the Venue (see below).
- Teaching methodology includes: direction instruction and lecture, physical exercises, assessment and treatment videos, group activities and case presentations.
- Attendees receive a Certificate of Attendance that is eligible for submission to Professional Organization for Continuing Education Hours earned during course.
Included with the completion of the SOS Main Training Conference, participants receive:
- Free listing on the SOS Referral List. The SOS Referral List connects SOS Trained Therapists with families and colleagues around the world.
- Ongoing support through an SOS Professional Facebook Group where SOS Trained Therapists can ask questions of the SOS Professors and participate in discussions with other colleagues.
- Monthly Facebook Live Q&A Events with Dr. Kay Toomey.
- Free quarterly SOS Feeding Steps Newsletter filled with ideas and tips for implementing the SOS Approach to Feeding in your therapy setting.
- Free SOS Presentations created by Dr. Toomey to help you share information on the SOS Approach to Feeding with your colleagues, families and medical community.
Note: Participants will be expected to complete the first 6 hours of the Conference independently, online PRIOR to the 4 days of In-Person Conference Training. Participants are required to complete the pre-recorded segment and to pass a test covering the first 6 hours of the Training, by 24th of September – one week BEFORE the first day of the In-Person 4 Day Conference Training segment in order to participate and attend the In-Person segment of the conference.
Intended Audience
Speech Language Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, Registered Dietitians, Special Education Teachers, Psychologists, Physical Therapists, Early Intervention Specialists, Nurses, Physicians, and Mental Health Workers. Note: Training conferences are created for professionals. If parents wish to attend the training workshop, they must be accompanied by their child’s feeding therapist.
Course Level
The SOS Approach to Feeding Conference is an Intermediate level course: Information is geared to practitioners with a general working knowledge of current practice trends and literature related to the subject matter. Focus is on increasing understanding and competent application of the subject matter.
Content Disclosure
The course content is focused on the SOS Approach to Feeding and there will be limited or no information provided about similar products or services.
Attendance Policy
This Conference has a 100% attendance requirement. During the in-person segment of the Conference, Participants are expected to attend the course and participate fully for the entire length of each day (see schedule below) in order to receive their Certificate of Completion, any continuing education credits, and/or to be allowed to use the SOS Approach to Feeding program. Participants will miss crucial information needed to be able to correctly use the SOS Approach to Feeding program if they come late or leave the course early.
Participants who arrive late or leave early on any day MUST make up any missed time. If the Participant does not make up the time, they will not receive a Certificate of Completion, and they will not be authorized to use the SOS Approach to Feeding Program. During the conference, the Participant must immediately make arrangements with Dr. Toomey to stay late each day of the conference until all of the missed time has been made up.
Participants MUST make their travel arrangements on the last day of the conference so that they will not be leaving the conference for any reason before 4:00 PM. NO EXCEPTIONS for flight or train schedules will be made.
Objectives/Agenda
- List the seven areas of human function that need to be examined to provide a comprehensive Feeding Assessment.
- Identify at least five of the oral, sensory, motor, cognitive or emotional developmental milestones key to being able to eat well.
- List three reasons why children won’t eat, as based on learning theory principles.
- Differentiate classical and operant conditioning principles as applied to resolving feeding problems.
- Identify at least four of the necessary components of an SOS Approach to Feeding program for babies, toddlers and young children in either an individual or group therapy session.
- List all three requirements for building a Food Hierarchy.
- Identify at least one play based strategy for progressing a child up each of the 6 major Steps on the Steps to Eating Hierarchy.
Agenda 1st – 4th of October
see PDF link here
SOS Agenda 1st-4th October 2024
We will be providing morning refreshments, lunch and afternoon refreshments each day of the conference within the comfort of the venue. This is a great opportunity for networking and will support the flow of the agenda.
Pricing/Cancellations
Registration Fees
- Early Bird Registration: £1,000 – register by the 26th of July 2024.
- Standard Registration: £1,150.
- As per the Attendance Policy for this Conference, all participants must complete the 6-hour online, pre-recorded segment of the 4.75 Day Hybrid SOS Main Training Conference no later than one week prior to Day 1 of the in-person segment of the Conference. Registrants who do not complete the online, pre-recorded segment of this Conference by the one week prior deadline, will be contacted by Toomey & Associates, Inc. to complete this online segment immediately. Registrants who still do not complete the required online pre-recorded segment of the Conference will not be allowed to attend the in-person segment. Registrants who were notified and did not complete the pre-recorded segment will be cancelled out of the SOS Conference with no refund being issued.
Cancellation of Registration by Registrant – Policy
- Cancellations must be received in writing to accounts@londonchildrenspractice.com no later than the 16th of September 2024 to receive a refund minus a £100 administrative fee. No refunds will be issued for cancellations received 16th of September 2024.
- Please be aware that once you receive and view the 6 hours of online material for the conference you are currently registered to attend, you will no longer have the option to cancel your attendance at the in-person segment of your SOS Conference.
Registrations may be substituted for another attendee from the same organization. Substitutions must submitted in writing by the 16th of September 2024 to accounts@londonchildrenspractice.com otherwise the substitution cannot be honored.
Cancellation of the Event
If the conference is cancelled by London Children’s Practice due to, but not limited to, the following:
• Speaker cancellation
• Limited enrollment
• Severe weather (snowstorm, flooding, etc.)
• Conference site issues (power outages, emergency situations)
Registrants will receive a full refund of their registration fee within 30-60 days of the originally scheduled conference by the method that the registrant used to pay for the registration.
PRESENTERS:
Kay A. Toomey, PhD
(Pediatric Psychologist; President of Toomey & Associates, Inc.; Adjunct Research Fellow of Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions)
Erin Sundseth Ross, PhD, CCC-SLP
(Neonatal and Pediatric Speech Pathologist; Assistant Clinical Professor at University of Colorado; Faculty at Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions; President, Feeding FUNdamentals, LLC)
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL AND NON-FINANCIAL RELATIONSHIPS:
Dr. Kay A. Toomey
- President, Toomey & Associates, Inc. and the Developer of the SOS Approach to Feeding program (paid)
- Adjunct Research Fellow of Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions (paid)
- Co-Author, “Behaviorally Based Feeding Problems” in Suiter & Gosa (Eds.) Assessing and Treating Dysphagia: A Lifespan Perspective (2019). New York: Thieme Publishers (unpaid)
- Founding Medical Professional Council Member with Feeding Matters – PFD Alliance Committee Member and Conference Committee Member (unpaid)
Dr. Erin S. Ross
- President and CEO of Feeding FUNdamentals, LLC (paid)
- Faculty at the Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions (paid)
- Developmental Specialist for HealthONE Hospital Systems (paid)
- Consultant for Nestec/Gerber Baby Foods (paid)
- Gerber Child Advocate/Developmental Panel member (paid)
- Consultant for Intertek (paid)
- Speaker for Toomey & Associates, Inc. & Feeding FUNdamentals, LLC (paid)
- Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine (unpaid)
- Co-Author, “Behaviorally Based Feeding Problems” in Suiter & Gosa (Eds.) Assessing and Treating Dysphagia: A Lifespan Perspective (2019). New York: Thieme Publishers (unpaid)
- PFD Alliance Leadership with Feeding Matters – PFD Alliance Advocacy Chair (unpaid)
- Consensus Committee of the Standards, Competencies, and Best Practices for Infant and Family-Centered Developmental Care in the Intensive Care Unit (unpaid)
BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENTS:
Dr. Kay A. Toomey is a Pediatric Psychologist who has worked with children who don’t eat for over 35 years. She has developed the SOS Approach to Feeding as a family centered program for assessing and treating children with feeding problems. Dr. Toomey speaks nationally and internationally about her approach. Dr. Toomey helped to form The Children’s Hospital – Denver’s Pediatric Oral Feeding Clinic, as well as the Rose Medical Center’s Pediatric Feeding Center. Dr. Toomey co-chaired the Pediatric Therapy Services Department at Rose Medical Center prior to entering private practice. Dr. Toomey acted as the Clinical Director for Toomey & Associates, Inc.’s Feeding Clinic, and then the SOS Feeding Solutions @ STAR before shifting into clinical consultation in order to focus on her teaching. Dr. Toomey is currently the President of Toomey & Associates, Inc. and an Adjunct Research Fellow at Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions.
Erin Sundseth Ross, PhD, CCC-SLP received her Ph.D. from the University of Colorado in 2007, followed by a 2-year Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Section of Nutrition at the University of Colorado Denver. Her master’s degree is in Speech and Language Pathology, from California State University Stanislaus, which she received in 1988. Dr. Ross is currently an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Colorado and is on faculty at the Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions. She has authored several book chapters and publications related to feeding preterm infants and infants with medical comorbidities. Dr. Ross provides clinical consultation to several Newborn Intensive Care Units (NICU) within the HealthONE system in Denver, in addition to providing professional education and research consultation through Feeding FUNdamentals, LLC. She created SOFFI®, a training program for caregivers in the NICU and therapists and other professionals working with babies who are having problems breast or bottle feeding at home. She brings 30+ years of experience working with premature infants and infants with medical problems.