An advanced training for clinicians ready to rethink oppositionality, feeding boundaries, and behaviour through the lenses of nervous system safety, autonomy, demand avoidance, and regulation.
Price $97 USD
And for some children, these approaches can be helpful.
But for others, something very different happens.
Mealtimes become battlegrounds. Food refusal intensifies. Anxiety increases. Parents become exhausted. Relationships become strained.
These children are often described as "oppositional," "controlling," "rigid," or "resistant" to treatment. Families are frequently told they need to hold firmer boundaries, be more consistent, stop accommodating, and avoid reinforcing behaviours.
Yet despite everyone's best efforts, feeding continues to become harder.
What if structure is not what these families need?
What if feeding boundaries and expectations themselves are being experienced as sources of threat and demand?
What if some children are struggling not because they need more structure, but because experiences that limit autonomy and reinforce hierarchical feeding relationships are undermining their sense of safety, agency, and trust in both food and their bodies?
This training invites clinicians into a different conversation—one that moves beyond compliance, behaviour, and one-size-fits-all recommendations and instead explores feeding through the lenses of nervous system safety, autonomy, demand avoidance, and relationship.
Live webinar: July 17, 2026 | 12:00–2:00 pm ET
Price: $97 USD
Facilitator: Naureen Hunani, RD
Recording: Recording available for 90 days after registration.
CPEUs: Approved for 2 CPEUs by the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR).
Certificate of completion provided to all participants
Increased anxiety and meltdowns around food and mealtimes
Escalating conflict between parents and children
Parents struggling to implement feeding recommendations
Feeding interventions that seem to make things worse rather than better
Children becoming distressed, shutting down, or avoiding eating
Families feeling blamed, exhausted, and misunderstood
...this training is for you.
When does structure support safety, and when might it create a threat?
What happens when eating itself becomes the demand?
Why are transitions to the dinner table so challenging for some children?
Can the very interventions intended to help become sources of threat?
What happens when feeding boundaries and expectations are experienced as demands?
What does progress look like when compliance and food variety are no longer the primary goals?
Investment: $97 USD
By the end of this webinar, participants will feel more confident supporting children and families whose needs may not fit neatly within conventional feeding approaches. Through a deeper understanding of demand avoidance, PDA profiles and nervous system protection, clinicians will gain practical tools to help families reduce conflict, externalize shame, and develop individualized solutions to complex feeding challenges.
Participants will learn how to prioritize regulation before food and understand how sensory experiences, fluctuating capacity, and nervous system safety influence a child's ability to access nourishment. Together, we will explore ways to support autonomy and body safety while honouring dignity and consent.
Clinicians will be invited to consider how scaffolding, flexibility, environmental modifications, and collaboration can create conditions that support both nourishment and connection.
This training will also help clinicians support parents in moving away from shame-based narratives and rigid ideas of what feeding "should" look like. Participants will gain greater confidence navigating uncertainty, supporting families who choose to do feeding differently, and critically examining mainstream assumptions about feeding and parenting.
Ultimately, this training aims to expand clinicians' clinical toolbox while helping them practice with greater creativity, flexibility, and compassion.
By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:
Recognize oppositional behaviours as observable expressions that may reflect a range of underlying experiences, including demand avoidance, demand anxiety, and PDA-informed presentations.
Describe how demands related to food, eating, body autonomy, transitions, and daily routines may contribute to nervous system activation and protective responses that impact feeding.
Critically examine common feeding and parenting approaches through neurodiversity-affirming and disability-affirming lenses, with particular attention to autonomy, safety, and regulation.
Identify accommodations and collaborative supports that promote safety, participation, self-advocacy, autonomy, and nourishment for children experiencing complex feeding challenges.
This training is designed for clinicians from diverse disciplines who are interested in engaging in thoughtful and critical conversations about feeding, parenting, autonomy, and support.
Participants are encouraged to approach this material with curiosity and openness. The goal is not to prescribe one "right" approach, but rather to expand our understanding of how nervous system differences, safety, autonomy, relationships, and accessibility influence feeding experiences.
Professionals who may benefit include:
Registered Dietitians
Occupational Therapists
Speech-Language Pathologists
Social Workers
Psychologists
Mental Health Professionals
Physicians
Nurses
Educators
Other clinicians supporting children with feeding challenges
"The depth of material covered far exceeded my expectations. The balance between nervous system science and practical application was exceptional, and I left with tools I could immediately use with clients."
"This training gave me language for experiences I knew were happening but struggled to explain. I left with a deeper understanding of how to personalize care and support neurodivergent clients."
"Naureen's trainings are always validating, engaging, and incredibly practical. The handouts, examples, and clinical tools helped me feel more confident in my work."
I’m Naureen Hunani, a multiply neurodivergent dietitian with over 18 years of clinical experience. I specialize in feeding disorders, including ARFID, and I’m particularly interested in the intersection of neurodivergence and feeding differences. I’m incredibly passionate about helping dietitians and helping professionals build neurodiversity-informed practices.
Even though feeding differences are commonly seen in the neurodivergent population, not many of us were trained in how to support this population in a way that is affirming and trauma-informed. I love to support pro-justice, HAES®-aligned professionals who are striving to build liberatory practices.
To learn more about RDs for Neurodiversity, click here
As with most educational organizations, we don't offer refunds for courses.
Any professional working with neurodivergent folks experiencing feeding and eating challenges can benefit from attending this course.
Whether you are a recent graduate or have been practicing for several years, you would benefit from this course.
You will have 90-day access to review and integrate the material.
Investment: $97 USD