All-Day Multidisciplinary Training | February 16, 2026

On February 16, 2026 Eis Laasois hosted a Professional development day.  The workshop titled “Therapeutic Nutrition to Optimize Regulation, Development and Cognition,” brought together Occupational Therapists (OT), Physical Therapists (PT), Speech and Language Pathologists (SLP), Teacher of the Visual Impaired (TVI), educators, and parents for a powerful shared learning experience with Kelly Dorfman MS, LDN.

From the outset, the training emphasized that development is not siloed. Regulation, motor planning, language, visual processing, attention, and academic participation are all interconnected — and nutrition plays a foundational role in each area. Kelly introduced a compelling framework: children have two parallel “diets.” One is neurological — movement, sensory input, and play. The other is biochemical — food, hydration, and nutrients.

For parents, therapists and educators who focus daily on access, positioning, regulation, and learning, this expanded our perspective in meaningful ways. We explored research connecting diet quality with academic performance/behavior and examined how selective eating, sensory processing differences, and anxiety often intersect. Feeding challenges were reframed not simply as behavioral, but often as biological and regulatory. The discussion of brain structure and nutrition highlighted the role of omega-3 fatty acids in attention and inflammation balance, the importance of vitamin E and phospholipids for neural integrity, and the necessity of B vitamins and carnitine for cellular energy production. The brain is metabolically demanding — and learning physically changes its structure when adequate nutrients are available. Equally impactful was the exploration of the gut–brain connection. Gastrointestinal health can influence mood, behavior, and regulation, and concerns such as constipation or reflux may present as fluctuating attention or irritability. 

What made this day especially meaningful was the multidisciplinary dialogue. Therapists, educators, and parents were able to reflect together, ask questions, and consider how small shifts — at home or in the classroom — might support better outcomes.  The takeaway was not about rigid dietary rules. It was about awareness. When we consider both the neurological and biochemical foundations of development, we strengthen our ability to support the whole child.

We are grateful for the opportunity to learn together and continue building a more integrated, informed approach to care.

Kelly Dorfman, MS LDN, is a licensed clinical nutritionist that specializes in targeted nutrition therapy to address complex medical problems. Cure Your Child with Food, her awarding winning book about the surprising ways nutrition impacts common childhood ailments is published in 8 languages. Kelly lectures internationally and has been featured on numerous television programs and in periodical including CNN’s American Morning, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Oprah magazine and WebMD. She was an adjunct professor at John Hopkins University for two years and is on the advisory board of the Gateway School of Mumbai.