Welcome to
Your Kid’s Table!
Your Kid’s Table is a website run by pediatric occupational therapists. With nearly 50 years of combined experience and collectively treating nearly 1000 children directly, and thousands more online, we want to share the best, proven ways to help kids with sensory issues, picky eating, sensory diets, feeding milestones, and toddlers/babies that refuse to eat!
Our Mission
As OT’s, we’ve seen first hand that when a child isn’t eating well or sensory issues are present the stress it can cause everyone in the family.
Unfortunately, how to help kids overcome these challenges isn’t common knowledge, and parents are often given a lot of bad advice, if any at all.
We believe it’s possible for EVERY family to enjoy mealtimes, manage picky eating, help sensory issues, and confidently meet feeding milestones like learning to eat table foods, drinking from a straw, and using a spoon.
This is only possible with education, and that is the drive behind Your Kid’s Table. We desperately want to teach parents and professionals just like you, so that we can begin to make a real change about how parents help their children eat and engage in sensory activities.
We continue to share new articles on the blog, and every Wednesday we send out tips and resources right to your inbox in our weekly newsletter!
Our Team
Alisha Grogan, MOT, OTR/L
Alisha created Your Kid’s Table in 2012 because of the deep felt need for simplified picky eating and sensory strategies for parents. As a pediatric occupational therapist and mom she wanted to share how change is possible. Since then Your Kid’s Table has grown to a small team of occupational therapists. Alisha continues to be deeply involved in content and supporting students the picky eating online course Mealtime Works and the sensory course RISE with Sensory.
Alisha’s Professional Background
Alisha Grogan graduated from Duquesne University with a Master’s Degree in Occupational Therapy in 2004. During her career she has worked in the early intervention program for Allegheny County in Pennsylvania, which provides in-home therapy to children 0-3 years of age. Her experience also includes Easter Seals of Pittsburgh as a school based occupational therapist in approved private schools and directly in students’ homes through PA Cyber Schools, as well as at Lynne C. Israel and Associates (now Sensational Kids Therapy) in Washington D.C. As an OT in this private practice, she had the opportunity to work at an innovative therapy based summer sensory camp, provide outpatient occupational therapy, and treat directly in the school setting.
Throughout these various settings, Alisha has worked with children from birth through 21 years old.
Alisha has also completed a variety of continuing education courses on children’s feeding skills and sensory processing, such as S.O.S. (Sensory, Oral, Sequential) Approach to Feeding and Talk Tools. In part, those courses have shaped her clinical approach and expertise.
Alisha is licensed as an occupational therapist in the state of Pennsylvania and nationally certified by the National Board Certification of Occupational Therapist (NBCOT).
Desiree Helbig, MOT, OTR/L
Project Manager, Customer Service
Desiree’s Professional Background
Desiree graduated from University of Pittsburgh in 2007 with her Master’s Degree in Occupational Therapy. During her field work experience at the Children’s Therapy Center she found her passion for working in pediatrics.
Desiree then continued her career as a pediatric OT at Positive Steps Therapy providing Early Intervention and Outpatient Services to children all around the Pittsburgh area. During her last 5 years at Positive Steps, Desiree Served as Facility Director in the Gibsonia Clinic. Desiree went on to provide tele-health occupational therapy services to children through the cyber school system including PA Cyber and Arkansas Virtual Academy.
Desiree is certified in S.O.S. (Sensory, Oral, Sequential) Approach to Feeding , Therapeutic Listening, Interactive Metronome and Handwriting Without Tears.
Desiree is licensed as an occupational therapist in the state of Pennsylvania and nationally certified by the National Board Certification of Occupational Therapist (NBCOT).
Laura Mau, OTD, OTR/L
Content & Social Media Coordinator
Laura’s Professional Background
Laura received a Clinical Doctorate in Occupational Therapy from Belmont University in 2015. She completed a residency project with New Trails Learning Systems in Texas, to develop a sensory-based curriculum for children and adults with neurodiversity and sensory difficulties.
She began practicing in Colorado pediatric home health, providing services to a diverse and complex caseload in a mixed urban and rural setting with limited access to medical and healthcare.
After relocating to Billings, Montana, Laura became the occupational therapy representative for Montana Feeding Matters, a partnership between local hospitals, outpatient clinics, and early intervention services to provide a collaborative approach to feeding and eating difficulties. This experience in multi-disciplinary feeding therapy was foundational to her continued interest in pediatric feeding disorders. She is now back in Colorado, working in the outpatient pediatric and adult setting at Rehab For All Therapy Services
She is licensed as an occupational therapist in the state of Colorado and nationally certified by the National Board Certification of Occupational Therapist (NBCOT).
Dive Deeper
Sensory Activities Workshop
Free 1 hour workshop with a workbook to learn 3 expert secrets for wielding the power of sensory activities to calm and focus your child!
Therapist Resource Center
Are you an OT, SLP, PT, teacher or other professional working with kids? We’ve got you covered with tools and freebies to support your practice.
Turn Around Picky Eating Workshop
Get the most essential first steps taught by Alisha to help your child eat new foods, no matter how picky they are!
Shop Our Store
Our best resources including our AOTA approved courses for parents and professionals, sensory diet cards, and 8 week meal plan for picky kids!
More About
Alisha Grogan
Alisha Grogan is the primary author of hundreds of detailed blog posts on Your Kid’s Table LLC, and thousands of social media posts, based on her professional expertise as a pediatric occupational therapist that has specialized in feeding (picky eating and babies having difficulty learning to eat to solids) and sensory processing (sensory seeking, sensory sensitivities, sensory diets, etc.) She has been featured in various publications and media sources, as detailed below.
Publications
Alisha Grogan has created leading American Occupational Therapy Approved (AOTA) online courses in picky eating (Mealtime Works), sensory (RISE with Sensory), and transitioning to table food (Table Food School) that thousands of students around the world, both parents and professionals have participated in.
She is also the author of numerous products including Sensory Diet Cards, 8 Week Meal Plan for Picky Eaters, and Printable Handouts for Therapists to use as a resource for clients on their caseload.
Alisha has shared her expertise on reputable expert websites such as Super Healthy Kids, The OT Toolbox, and The Inspired Treehouse.
Professional Speaking
In 2024, Alisha led a day-long live presentation of her picky eating program, Mealtime Works, to 200 Baltimore School District OT’s and SLP’s. She led 3 sessions as the featured speaker at the Minnesota School Based OT-PT conference in the Minneapolis in October of this year.
Alisha presented at the 2021 Talk Tools Conference teaching, How to Identify and Treat the Sensory Component of Pediatric Feeding Difficulties to hundreds of occupational therapists, and has spoken at local parent community events about picky eating. Alisha has also been a guest expert on CBS Pittsburgh on multiple occasions to discuss Healthy Snacks for Picky Eaters, Healthy Eating for Kids and Parents, and Helping Picky Kids to Eat Dinner.
Alisha has also joined other experts on their podcasts, such as The Nourished Child with Jill Castle, and Anxious Toddlers to Teens with Natasha Daniels to discuss sensory processing issues in children.
Contributions
Alisha Grogan has been sought after as an expert and contributed her expertise in Parents magazine and The Huffington Post.
She has also spoken at her alma mater, Duquesne University’s School of Occupational Therapy, and shared on several panels to discuss occupational therapy entrepreneurship and online practice. Alisha has also been interviewed by occupational doctoral candidates from the school, as a feeding expert on various occasions.
Featured On
Alisha’s body of work on Your Kid’s Table has been shared and cited as a resource on a large number of websites, including The American Journal of Occupational Therapy’s OT Practice Magazine, Healthline (Best Sensory Processing Disorder Blogs), Feedspot (Best Kids Food Blogs), The Friendship Circle, and Romper.
In 2023, she was featured in the Fun & Function sensory catalog.
Connect with Alisha in the $9/month membership
Get a curated and simplified brain building activity every week. Alisha, Laura, and Desiree are also in the community space on the membership app daily to answer your questions!
Our Favorite Your Kid’s Table Articles
