Re: New with a question about eating issues

[Guest guest]

Around 2 is when mine started food refusal. If they like smooth texture, grind up real food like veggies and even chicken or meat if they will eat it. Try yogurt, oatmeal, scrambled or soft boiled eggs, and smoothies that you can put all kinds of things into.All of these kids are seriously picky eaters. Mine at 10 every once in a while might try something new, but at least I'm now resigned to it and don't freak out about it any more because he is healthy. To: autism-aspergers Sent: Monday, May 21, 2012 9:00 PM Subject: New with a question about eating issues

Hi! My name's Leah, and I have four kiddos, DD (11), twin boys (2) and a four month old boy as well. My twins were just diagnosed with autism, but I've pretty much known for about 8 months or so. They are really sweet, active boys and they've come a long way with speech and OT...they're starting to point, ask for things, play with toys, and using a few words and signs. I'm really proud of them!

However, eating...it's just awful. Cash will eat nothing with any texture, and now Gus is starting to be the same way. So we're still on baby food with a few crackers here and there. They constantly, constantly spit. If they can reach anything on the table it gets thrown. They bang against their chairs to move around the room. It's a struggle to get them to eat anything, and I hate to say it but it's making me miserable. I am so worried because they're both tiny. We can't eat as a family, we can't go anywhere to eat.

They've worked on feeding in OT, but maybe it just isn't translating to home. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

[Guest guest]

When my son was this age, I had the same issues with his eating.  When I expressed my concerns, his pediatrician said that it was my fault for giving in to his demands.  I started giving him a soy-based meal replacement drink that he loved and liquid greens that I bought at the health food store (he couldn't tolerate swallowing pills).  Eventually, he out grew this issue and now he eats everything.

 

Hi! My name's Leah, and I have four kiddos, DD (11), twin boys (2) and a four month old boy as well. My twins were just diagnosed with autism, but I've pretty much known for about 8 months or so. They are really sweet, active boys and they've come a long way with speech and OT...they're starting to point, ask for things, play with toys, and using a few words and signs. I'm really proud of them!

However, eating...it's just awful. Cash will eat nothing with any texture, and now Gus is starting to be the same way. So we're still on baby food with a few crackers here and there. They constantly, constantly spit. If they can reach anything on the table it gets thrown. They bang against their chairs to move around the room. It's a struggle to get them to eat anything, and I hate to say it but it's making me miserable. I am so worried because they're both tiny. We can't eat as a family, we can't go anywhere to eat.

They've worked on feeding in OT, but maybe it just isn't translating to home. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

[Guest guest]

Eating issues are common on the spectrum and not any ones fault.Remember, their sensory system is different! They may feel things or smell them differently. I choose not to force my kids to eat anything that they don't like because if you forced me to eat something I disagree with- I'd get sickSent from my iPhone

When my son was this age, I had the same issues with his eating. When I expressed my concerns, his pediatrician said that it was my fault for giving in to his demands. I started giving him a soy-based meal replacement drink that he loved and liquid greens that I bought at the health food store (he couldn't tolerate swallowing pills). Eventually, he out grew this issue and now he eats everything.

Hi! My name's Leah, and I have four kiddos, DD (11), twin boys (2) and a four month old boy as well. My twins were just diagnosed with autism, but I've pretty much known for about 8 months or so. They are really sweet, active boys and they've come a long way with speech and OT...they're starting to point, ask for things, play with toys, and using a few words and signs. I'm really proud of them!

However, eating...it's just awful. Cash will eat nothing with any texture, and now Gus is starting to be the same way. So we're still on baby food with a few crackers here and there. They constantly, constantly spit. If they can reach anything on the table it gets thrown. They bang against their chairs to move around the room. It's a struggle to get them to eat anything, and I hate to say it but it's making me miserable. I am so worried because they're both tiny. We can't eat as a family, we can't go anywhere to eat.

They've worked on feeding in OT, but maybe it just isn't translating to home. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

[Guest guest]

Agreed- this was not anyone's fault, despite what a doctor says. Doctors don't

always know what's up when it comes to Autism.

I love my family doctor, but despite several confirmations from other

professionals, he refuses to believe my youngest two kids have Asperger's

Syndrome, based on the 1 extreme case he had many years ago. I stopped taking

the kids there when they were officially diagnosed. He asks about them from time

to time, and then says things like, " Well, if you had to get that diagnosis to

make school work, then I guess that's what you have to do " ... well, no, I got

that diagnosis because it's what's wrong with the kids.

> >

> > Hi! My name's Leah, and I have four kiddos, DD (11), twin boys (2) and a

four month old boy as well. My twins were just diagnosed with autism, but I've

pretty much known for about 8 months or so. They are really sweet, active boys

and they've come a long way with speech and OT...they're starting to point, ask

for things, play with toys, and using a few words and signs. I'm really proud of

them!

> >

> > However, eating...it's just awful. Cash will eat nothing with any texture,

and now Gus is starting to be the same way. So we're still on baby food with a

few crackers here and there. They constantly, constantly spit. If they can reach

anything on the table it gets thrown. They bang against their chairs to move

around the room. It's a struggle to get them to eat anything, and I hate to say

it but it's making me miserable. I am so worried because they're both tiny. We

can't eat as a family, we can't go anywhere to eat.

> >

> > They've worked on feeding in OT, but maybe it just isn't translating to

home. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

> >

> >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Leah,

My son started being very picky around 1.5 years of age. He mostly only liked white foods: milk, yogurt, soft mozarella cheese stick, spaghetioo's, cheerios, crackers, banana, grapes, banana, bagel, chicken nugget, tater tots. He also had to have a specific brand of chicken, he could tell the difference and wouldn't touch it if I gave him something home made . My OT recommended a few things which have worked.

1. I would repeatedly introduce a new texture or food item repeatedly on the plate next to a small amount of a preferred food. You can start this during snack time, to make it less stressful on you. When he was done eating the preferred item, I would ask him to first touch the new food , then if that was acceptable, had him just touch it to his lips, then moved on to putting into the mouth. I modeled each step first, then would say "noah, do". I have to say he spat the food out many times before he finally would accept to taste something and swallow it. I never made it into a fight or struggle, if he spit it out, I would still praise him for trying. If he tried it (ie: even put it into his mouth), he then got a little more of the preferred item. Success didn't happen overnight overnight of course. It took many many tries, but he

finally accepted regular pasta with tomato sauce and now will eat any type of pasta. He is now 3 and now loves eating hummus, various types of cheese, chili, beans, raisins, meatballs, ham, fried rice with veggies. I think the important thing is to keep it low stress, and make it fun by giving them lots of praise and positive reinforcement if they at least try it. At least with my son, by the 150th time, he would be willing to eat it and then he most likely would try it again if he ate it once.

2. My son would also try to bang his chair and move it across the room. I don't know what type of feeding chair you have, but I had one where you could just remove the feeding tray and the seat would then just serve as a booster for a regular chair. Once I removed the feeding tray, he wasn't able to have the leverage to move it around the room. I started having us all eat as a family at the table for dinner so he could see us model good eating behavior. We made a little visual reminder showing three pictures "sit, eat, then play". Our kids respond better to visual cues so if noah started trying to get off his seat, I would show the visual cue of sit, then eat, then play to remind him to stay. You may need to start in small time increments that they can comply with(ie: five minutes sitting and eating, then play, then go back to step 1. Now my son

can make it through a whole meal in his feeding chair even when he is not buckled and strapped in. Again, it took several trials. Eventually when they are behaving well at home, you can try this at a family type restaurant. This weekend Noah finally sat at a regular adult chair and stayed there for most of the meal, which has been a big improvement. I also would make sure to reinforce them using forks and spoons if they are fine motor wise able to do so, you want to get them used to using utensils early on.

Each situation of course is different as is every child, so you can try different approaches and see what works. My OT would always encourage me to try to expand my son's ability to accept new textures and situations as much as possible despite his sensory issues. It is easier to do this when they are younger and less rigid in their habits.

Liliane

From: someonenamedleah someonenammedleah@... ssueTo: autism-aspergers Sent: Monday, May 21, 2012 9:00 PMSubject: New with a question about eating issues

Hi! My name's Leah, and I have four kiddos, DD (11), twin boys (2) and a four month old boy as well. My twins were just diagnosed with autism, but I've pretty much known for about 8 months or so. They are really sweet, active boys and they've come a long way with speech and OT...they're starting to point, ask for things, play with toys, and using a few words and signs. I'm really proud of them!However, eating...it's just awful. Cash will eat nothing with any texture, and now Gus is starting to be the same way. So we're still on baby food with a few crackers here and there. They constantly, constantly spit. If they can reach anything on the table it gets thrown. They bang against their chairs to move around the room. It's a struggle to get them to eat anything, and I hate to say it but it's making me miserable. I am so worried because they're both tiny. We can't eat as a family, we can't go anywhere to eat. They've worked on feeding

in OT, but maybe it just isn't translating to home. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

[Guest guest]

My 7 yo has had food issues since we tried to switch him from my milk to formula.  he threw everything up except the carnation, the most expensive brand too.  It has been a battle for 7 years to get him to try new things.  He would ONLY eat dinosaur shaped nuggets, and only at home.  it has just been this year that since we put him on the school lunch program and told him either eat at school or be hungry all day that he broke down and has started trying new things on the menu, which included a different shape/brand of nuggets. 

His OC therapist has been working with him with a " try new things " game where he earns stickers for every bite of something new that he tries. I'm supposed to be doing it with him at home but he won't do anything with me and generally treats me like crap until his father comes home.

He gags over the smell of ANY meats cooking, will run into the bathroom and stuff tissue up his nose when we are bbqing, will not accept hotdogs off the grill, they must be microwaved to avoid " the black stuff " .  Hamburgers cannot have the cheese melted on them, the cheese is to be put on after the meat comes off the grill, then he has to smother the whole sandwich with ketchup and mustard and pickles to cover the meat flavor.  I can't blame him there, I have that same issue and drown my burgers with ketchup.

I cut him off of frozen pizzas and now we have added home made burritos with tons of salsa.  He is picky as far as home foods and foods out of the house. They might be the same food but location matters. That one I don't get lol

Food is a constant battle with him and his pickiness, but he wants to eat every hour on the dot and we have to watch him or he will sneak food up to his room. My 18 yo is almost all better with his eating issues, cept he still cannot swallow pills of any kind.  I'm pretty good now about my eating issues but I was raised by an extremely strict mother and with no diagnosis of my Aspergers, so I was spanked, put in my room for days on end and so forth, so I learned to eat or starve, and I HAD to eat. I remember one time, I didn't like what was for dinner (Portuguese Fish Stu), so my mom sent me to my room and I ended up in the bathroom eating toothpaste squeezed into tissue. oops I got off on a tangent about my crap lol sorry.

Ashton (Aspie Mom with two Autistic sons)

 

Hi Leah,

 

My son started being very picky around 1.5 years of age.  He mostly only liked white foods:  milk, yogurt, soft mozarella cheese stick, spaghetioo's, cheerios, crackers, banana, grapes, banana, bagel, chicken nugget, tater tots.  He also had to have a specific brand of chicken, he could tell the difference and wouldn't touch it if I gave him something home made . My

OT recommended a few things which have worked.

 

1.  I would repeatedly introduce a new texture or food item repeatedly on the plate next to a small amount of a preferred food.   You can start this during snack time, to make it less stressful on you.  When he was done eating the preferred item, I would ask him to first touch the new food , then if that was acceptable, had him just touch it to his lips, then moved on to putting into the mouth.  I modeled each step first, then would say " noah, do " .  I have to say he spat the food out many times before he finally would accept to taste something and swallow it.  I never made it into a fight or struggle, if he spit it out, I would still praise him for trying.  If he tried it (ie:  even put it into his mouth), he then got a little more of the preferred item.  Success didn't happen overnight overnight of course.  It took many many tries, but he

finally accepted regular pasta with tomato sauce  and now will eat any type of pasta.  He  is now 3 and now loves eating hummus, various types of cheese, chili, beans, raisins, meatballs, ham, fried rice with veggies.    I think the important thing is to keep it low stress, and make it fun by giving them lots of praise and positive reinforcement if they at least try it.  At least with my son, by the 150th time, he would be willing to eat it and then he most likely would try it again if he ate it once. 

 

2.  My son would also try to bang his chair and move it across the room.  I don't know what type of feeding chair you have, but I had one where you could just remove the feeding tray and the seat would then just serve as a booster for a regular chair.  Once I removed the feeding tray, he wasn't able to have the leverage to move it around the room.  I started having us  all eat as a family at the table for dinner so he could see us model good eating behavior.  We made a little visual reminder showing three pictures " sit, eat, then play " .  Our kids respond better to visual cues so if noah started trying to get off his seat, I would show the visual cue of sit, then eat, then play to remind him to stay.  You may need to start in small time increments that they can comply with(ie:  five minutes sitting and eating, then play, then go back to step 1.  Now my son

can make it through a whole meal in his feeding chair even when he is not buckled and strapped in.  Again, it took several trials.   Eventually when they are behaving well at home, you can try this at a family type restaurant.  This weekend Noah finally sat at a regular adult chair and stayed there for most of the meal, which has been a big improvement.   I also would make sure to reinforce them using forks and spoons if they are fine motor wise able to do so, you want to get them used to using utensils early on.

 

Each situation of course is different as is every child, so you can try different approaches and see what works.  My OT would always encourage me to try to expand my son's ability to accept new textures and situations as much as possible despite his sensory issues.  It is easier to do this when they are younger and less rigid in their habits.

 

Liliane

 

From: someonenamedleah someonenammedleah@... ssue

To: autism-aspergers Sent: Monday, May 21, 2012 9:00 PM

Subject: New with a question about eating issues

 

Hi! My name's Leah, and I have four kiddos, DD (11), twin boys (2) and a four month old boy as well. My twins were just diagnosed with autism, but I've pretty much known for about 8 months or so. They are really sweet, active boys and they've come a long way with speech and OT...they're starting to point, ask for things, play with toys, and using a few words and signs. I'm really proud of them!

However, eating...it's just awful. Cash will eat nothing with any texture, and now Gus is starting to be the same way. So we're still on baby food with a few crackers here and there. They constantly, constantly spit. If they can reach anything on the table it gets thrown. They bang against their chairs to move around the room. It's a struggle to get them to eat anything, and I hate to say it but it's making me miserable. I am so worried because they're both tiny. We can't eat as a family, we can't go anywhere to eat.

They've worked on feeding

in OT, but maybe it just isn't translating to home. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!