Specialist Dietitian
The Pines is host to Specialist Dietitian, David Rex. He works mostly with families who have children with neurodevelopmental difficulties. He is the author of most of the information you’ve probably just looked at. Most of the families he advises have children on the Autistic spectrum. They are more likely to be picky, highly selective or avoidant around food. A confirmed diagnosis is not necessary.
What matters is that you have concerns about your child’s diet. Sometimes he advises families who have children with ADHD or other difficulties were nutrition could make a difference such as low mood or anxiety.
Not everyone who is concerned about their child’s diet needs to see a Dietitian. You might well be able to get what need from some of the information on these pages, or through discussion with your health visitor or another professional involved in your child’s care.
If you do feel you need a discussion with David, you can request this. Ideally, this is done via another professional involved in your child’s care. This is because they are likely to have access to the background information that will help save time later. However, it is also possible to request assistance from David directly. He can be contacted at David.Rex@highland.gov.uk
Be aware that it may be a few weeks before he is able to arrange an assessment, depending on how many others are waiting to be seen. He may be able to arrange a face to face, phone or video consultation with you.
The first appointment is likely to take an hour or so. Often, this single assessment is enough to be able to give you the guidance you need. For some families, they may need 2, 3 or several appointments over a number of months.
In most cases, the first appointment works best if the child is not present. Sometimes, it is important to directly involve older children one or more of the appointments. For younger children however, it is often more productive to plan with a parent or carer how to influence their child’s diet without the child being present at the appointment. If they are too aware of the discussion, they can become more resistant to change!
If you are invited to attend an appointment, it is likely to cover any the 4 following areas:
An assessment of the current diet; how this has changed over time; and how it compares with dietary guidelines
Reflection on what strategies have been tried previously
Some discussion of the likely current and future impact of the diet on day to day functioning and future health & wellbeing
Developing a realistic nutrition improvement plan that takes account of social, psychological and sensory challenges