In the United States, the fall brings holidays and events that revolve around family, friends and food: trick or treating for Halloween, doughnuts and apple cider at the pumpkin patch, and Thanksgiving feasts.
Across cultures, sharing food means sharing your family’s history, and giving food to others is one of the most basic things we do to take care of each other. In this way, sharing and giving food conveys love — so, when we cannot help feed a loved one who depends on us, the pressure to find a way may be intense. On the flip side, when the time comes again that we can share food, the pride and joy can be just as overwhelming.
This fall, I am incredibly happy to have joined the Munroe-Meyer Institute as the director of the MMI Department of Pediatric Feeding Disorders. I am grateful for the opportunity to join caregivers and patients on their journey down a path that they likely never knew existed before finding themselves on it.
I have been in the field of pediatric feeding disorders for about 10 years, and I will never take for granted the privilege it is to share eating firsts with families who were previously unable to share food with their loved one: a baby’s first time finishing a bottle, a child’s first time eating their birthday cake, a child taking their first bite of refried beans made by their grandmother or a kid “sneaking” candy corn from the kitchen for the first time. I’m here for all of that.
As I see it, my mission as the new director of the MMI Department of Pediatric Feeding Disorders is to open up the department to the community. I want to expand the availability of empirically-supported care for individuals with feeding disorders, create new interdisciplinary collaborations, move toward preventing feeding disorders in babies who are at highest risk, work with behavioral and medical primary care to nip feeding issues in the bud and establish close relationships with the individuals and families we serve to ensure that we are addressing their priorities and maximizing their quality of life. I want to minimize the time between the incredible stress caregivers feel when they cannot get their child to eat and the joy and pride the child and caregivers feel when they are sharing food again.
Beyond focusing on food and eating, fall is a time to express gratitude in general, and I already have experienced so much in Omaha and at MMI for which I am thankful.
I am grateful to those in the community who hold events and create jobs that allow children and adults with medical and developmental challenges to participate. I appreciate how everyone at MMI works together to teach individuals new skills, which allows those individuals to participate in life events even more fully than the year before. Finally, I am thankful for the patients and their families who entrust us with their care and inspire us to work harder and innovate to find new ways to serve them all year.
Amy Drayton, PhD
Director
MMI Department of Pediatric Feeding Disorders