Treating Picky Eaters
Review behavioral parent management skills that can help parents of children along the entire continuum of food selectivity, from passively-avoidant picky eaters to children who are extremely disruptive during mealtime.
Learning Objectives
- How and when to identify selective eating behavior(s) as a target skill for a client
- How to approach creating a program for a client with selective eating behavior(s)
- Techniques for selective eating behavior(s) (e.g., proactive and reactive strategies during meal time)
- Parent Training during meal time
About Instructor
Justine Caputi is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (1-16-24430) and Certified Special Education Teacher in New York State. She received her undergraduate degree in Special Education and General Education (K-12) from Cabrini College. Justine completed her Masters Degree in Special Education with a focus in Behavior Disorders, and obtained an advanced graduate degree in Applied Behavioral Analysis at Hunter College. Justine is passionate about working collaboratively with families and educators to carefully curate and provide individualized socially-significant programming in order to best support clients at school and in the home.
Helping parents and educators gain a deeper understanding of abilities, decrease problem behaviors, and increase functional life skills is Justine’s top priority. Watching students reach their potential and gain meaningful life skills with the help of ABA, a variety of evidence-based practices, and a collaborative team keeps her inspired. Justine has spent a significant amount of time in a variety of educational settings for individuals ages 5-21 on the Autism Spectrum including public schools, private schools, and a charter school designing and implementing ABA programs that meet student and family needs. Over the years, she has been providing DTT (discrete trial training for early learners), NET (Natural Environment Teaching for more advanced young learners), and SET (Social and Emotional Training for adolescents). She has experience conducting Functional Behavioral Assessments and skill-tracking assessments (AFLS, VB-MAPP), writing Behavioral Intervention Plans and IEP Goals, providing home consultation to families, teaching travel/job skills training to adolescents, and implementing training and supervision for instructional staff.
Justine is particularly passionate about supporting caregivers and educators in the creation and implementation of behavior plans – finding effective, differentiated, safe, and functional procedures is pertinent for change in a positive direction across all environments. Justine’s experiences of working with families across home and school gives her a nuanced understanding of special education and how parents can best work in collaboration with a team to meet their students’ needs.
