Picky, Selective, Autistic Eating

So many parents stress over their child's diet. I get it, I'm a mom, too.

"He only eats chicken nuggets and bread."

Usually when someone says, "they only eat...." that list becomes not just two things, but slowly expands to five, even 10 things. Yet they still complain, "but no veggies" or "they don't eat meat."

What I'm about to say isn't going to make me popular, but here goes: WHO CARES?

Plenty of people in the world don't eat meat. There are tons of adults who eat little to no veggies or fruit. Is it totally optimal? No, maybe not, but is your diet optimal? I'm going to bet you don't get the 7-10 daily servings of fruits and vegetables Canada's Food Guide recommends. So are you holding your children to a different standard than you hold yourself?

Are you able to fill in some gaps with fruit/veggie smoothies, vitamins or supplements? My son will drink Pediasure and take his essential fatty acids in liquid form. I don't sweat the rest.

There are a few concepts I'd like you to be aware of when it comes to Autistics eating:

1) Eating can be part of routine or rituals, so the whole routine is needed in order to keep anxiety down. The food itself may or may not bring as much comfort as the rituals around it do.

2) For some eating is comforting and the taste/texture is satisfying a sensory need. For others, eating is simply a means to an end. Depending on how my sensory system is working one day, I can truly enjoy food, and another I'm eating only because I know I want to stay alive, but everything tastes like cardboard.

3) We might need to eat alone to feel comfortable.

4) We might not tolerate a whole sandwich, but would be fine to take it apart and eat it. Allowing us to "pick at food" might be worth it if you want us to eat.

5) Many of us eat with our hands. Yes, even us adults.

6) We know how we feel after eating certain foods. We know what we can digest and what brings us discomfort. We avoid things that bring us discomfort. We don't have to have an intolerance or allergy in order to suffer from discomfort. If you know corn makes you bloat and gives you gas, you probably avoid it or eat less of it. We do the same! Fancy that!

It's especially because of #6 that I don't believe in "hiding" foods in other foods because you want your child to ingest something. Don't sneak broccoli into chocolate muffins. Don't put ground up meat in pasta sauce. That's a really good way to get your child to stop eating their preferred foods and make them feel sick.
Trust we know our bodies and what makes us feel well and comfortable in our own skin.

There's no "one bite" rule in my house. Looking at a new food, touching it, smelling it, licking it and biting it and then spitting it out are all valid explorations of food. My son is always offered different foods and he's certainly welcome to try, but never forced. Put a new food on a plate in front of your child and leave the room if it disturbs you too much to watch them not eat it. Eating should not be a pressured, coerced or stressful situation.

Let them explore it (or not!) as they wish. Then let them eat what they want to eat. My son eats nut butter sandwiches every day. Lunch and dinner. That's what he likes. So be it. Eventually he will branch out to something else. Peanut butter comes in 1kg tubs and is quite affordable. Why should I stress?

I know that just like I did, he'll eventually eat a greater variety of foods as he matures. Or maybe not. But we're not there yet.

So my advice is really to not make stress for yourself where none needs to be and respect the fact we eat what works for us, in ways that work for us and are comforting.

Food Allergies Are Not About Being Sensitive

From http://brotherssauces.blogspot.ca/2011/11/food-allergies-do-you-or-do-you-know.html

 
Every once and an annoying while, I will accidentally eat something I am allergic/intolerant to and get sick. This usually happens in public places, since I don't cook things I can't eat at home. Inevitably, someone will say, "but you just had a few bites, you're really sensitive."

Sensitive? That's a dumb thing to say. If someone ate just a little bit of arsenic and got sick, would you say, "gee, you're really sensitive to poison!" Or if they drank a bit of bleach and burnt all the lining of their esophagus, I could just see a doctor now saying, "the patient is really sensitive to bleach...."
It's a little extreme, but the point is the same. The fact is while food allergies are just caused by harmless food you normally eat, to a person with an allergy, their body reacts as if they've been poisoned. So for these people, some foods ARE poison, even deadly.

http://healthychoicesforrestaurants.com/big-8-food-allergens/

I don't want people to mix up being sensitive (or the implied weak or fragile) with a food sensitivity, which has a scientific definition and physical response. I have food sensitivities, but I am not sensitive to food, nor does the food make me sensitive. Non-allergic food hypersensitivity is the proper scientific term for "food intolerance." My body cannot tolerate or digest certain foods. I am intolerant.

I'll explain what happens to me. When I accidentally eat shellfish, even if it's just a little, my face flushes and I start to feel hot all of a sudden. I start burping (dyspepsia) and feeling odd. Within an hour, I am doubled over with intestinal cramps and diarrhea. If I can catch what happened fast enough and get some Benadryl, it's not as bad a reaction. However, I've had the effects of just a small amount of shellfish last all night to all weekend. It's no joke and it's not fun. My father was intolerant to shellfish and so is my son, unfortunately.

The difference between an intolerance and an allergy is an intolerance usually has to do with lacking the digestive enzymes to properly digest certain proteins, whereas an allergy is the body over-reacting to what it believes is an invader. Intolerances are more likely to affect the gut or mucous membranes (sinuses included) and allergies are more likely to cause anaphylaxis - which just means more than one reaction occurs at the same time. Contrary to common belief, it does not mean the person swells up and can't breathe (though that can be part of anaphylactic shock). All it means is more than one part of the body reacts simultaneously, so it could be diarrhea and hives. Or nausea and runny nose.

So I hope that clarifies things a bit and also how important it is to treat these things seriously. When people with food allergies or intolerances make special requests not to include a food, it's not because they don't like it or are picky eaters trying to cause problems. It's so they don't have their whole weekend ruined on the toilet or actually die.


Note: While searching for images, I found this controversial article on how food allergies can be good for you (their opinion, not mine!) Read it if you're interested.