RE: Obsessions regarding food

[Guest guest]

:

Is your daughter also being treated

for OCD? sounds like she has some compulsions that could be lessened with

meds. Have you seen an O.T.? We did this with Bradley and through

the " brushing " techqnique he is now able to handle so much more

texture in clothes. Also, they have an oral technique that helps to

desensitize the mouth. You might want to look into it.

If she is worrisome thin, I'd let her eat whatever she desires (not sugar, but

mac and cheese, milk, etc) until she can get a better handle on this.

Good luck

BP/Aspergers SUPPORT GROUP

Debby, Mom to:

, besides the sensory issue I also

wondered about possible OCD as Debby asked. My eleven year old has this issue

which showed up when he was nine. Something to think about. Gail

[Guest guest]

I'd just like to agree with this.. I have lots of issues with what

food I'll eat, how it has to be prepared before I'll eat it, what

I'll eat it with(as in, what silverware, plates etc I'll use), etc,

but the reasons are just.. I'm not sure. Quite inexlpicable.

But 'controlling', no, I don't think so. It's just.. the way I

think. i.e. I don't care how good that food tastes to 95% of the

world, it looks funny(or the name of it sounds funny, or something

else like that.. for example, 'goulash', what the heck?), and I'm

not going to eat it. :-) As far as I know I've always been like

this.

I could list off all kinds of weird food quirks I have, hell there's

a thread on an Aspergers board I post on that has the subject 'what

are your food quirks?', and most everybody there has quite a few. :-

)

>

> Sorry, but no way is this a way of " controlling " . The ABA person

is way

> off on this.I can't help but wonder where a 'professional' comes

up with

> such a statement. I don't like to be controversial but this is

just not

> true. My son has always had food issues and he is not a controlling

> person. Some foods that he will eat or has eaten in the past are

> Haddock, Tilapia(fish), pears(dark colored and firm, grapes,

Chicken

> Noodle soup, Vegetable Alphabet soup, grapefruit, lemons, crackers

with

> thin spread of cream cheese, sour dough bread, lettuce with red

wine

> vinegar, flour tortillas with thin spread of salsa, pancakes,

pizza, dry

> cinnamon cereal, other dry cereals. The food issue is sensory

related

> not behavior. Try rubbing around their mouth if they will let you,

have

> them drink from a straw, blow bubbles, chew gum, raisins.those are

a few

> ideas.Gail

[Guest guest]

>> Hi , my son also has food issues. We have been told by many

experts ( Holmes of the Eden institute and by our Neurologist) that

restricting dairy is only a fad. We have also been told by our son's ABA

therapist that 's food issues are his way of CONTROLLING. We were

surprised by this but it does make sense. Best of luck.

Ellen and Costigan<<

>>Sorry, but no way is this a way of " controlling " . The ABA person is way

off on this.I can't help but wonder where a 'professional' comes up with

such a statement. I don't like to be controversial but this is just not

true. Gail<<

I absolutely agree with Gail here. To be 'controlling' means having a Theory

of mind - ie being aware of other's thoughts nad feelings and using that to

manipulate them. NT children develop this naturally around the age of 4

years, ASD children take much longer, and some never develop it at all.

However, ASD children can *appear* to us to be 'controlling' because they

try to keep everything predictable and safe, and can have a meltdown if

something quite small changes. It looks like that to us because we tend to

interpret their actions *as if* they were NT.

It is very common for ASD children to have issues about food, which seem to

be related to taste and texture, although appearance and smell can also be

involved. Often they do not like to have different foods touching on the

plate - my son hates soups and stews because everything is all mixed up

together. He also intensely dislikes gravy and other sauces. He has 'fads'

where he will eat the same thing every day, and these change unexpectedly.

You can have testing done to see if he is metabolising gluten and casein

correctly (there is a theory which says some ASDs do not digest it properly

and so natural opiods from these foodstuffs gets into the brain). Only if

these come up positive do you need to think about removing them from the

diet. See Luke 's book " A user guide to the GF/CF diet " for physical

indications that it might be helpful, and contacts.

However, be aware that it is not necessary nor effective in all cases and in

no way is a cure.

in England