Teaching · Related Services

See where the lunch minutes go.

Time the meal, rate the help each part of the lunch routine took and mark any warning signs. The organizer shows how much of lunch was eating and what to support first.

Start an observationWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Related Services toolkit, $99 for 96 items.

The lunch observation

One observation per student and date. The example is made up.

Loading the form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Teaching · Related Services$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
Parts of the routine done on the student’s own, minutes eating against minutes seated, the part to support first and anything to pass on to the nurse and feeding team.
Who it is for
Occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, special education teachers and paraprofessionals who support students at lunch.
Format
Browser form. One saved observation per student and date; printed with the summary or as a blank form for the cafeteria; CSV; export and import a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Related Services toolkit ($99) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Related Services space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about an order, access or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.
twenty minutes, a tray and a lid to open
Drawn for this page. Lunch is short, loud and full of small motor tasks; the clock shows where the minutes go.

How to use it

  1. Sit where you can see the student without hovering.
  2. Note the minutes: seated, before the first bite and spent eating.
  3. Rate each part of the routine you saw.
  4. Mark warning signs only if you saw them, and pass them on the same day.
  5. Copy the observation to another day; lunch varies a lot.

Start an observation

Reading the observation

Warning signs

Coughing or choking with food or drink, a wet voice after swallowing, food held in the mouth and watery eyes while eating can signal swallowing difficulty. They go to the school nurse and the team that supports feeding the same day; this page does not judge them.

Meal accommodations

Schools in the National School Lunch Program make reasonable meal modifications for students whose disability restricts their diet, on a medical statement (7 CFR 210.10(m)). Texture changes are decided by the feeding team, never at the table.

What this is not

A feeding or swallowing evaluation. It records participation at one lunch.

Sources

  1. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Practice Portal: Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing (school-based services).
  2. Homer, E. M. (2016). Management of Swallowing and Feeding Disorders in Schools. Plural Publishing.
  3. U.S. Department of Agriculture, 7 CFR 210.10(m): meal modifications for participants with disabilities in the National School Lunch Program.
  4. American Occupational Therapy Association, Occupational therapy’s role in school mealtimes (fact sheet).

The example student is made up. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.