ASD and fussy eating

[BeautifulLiar]

Well after losing it with my DS the other night I'm gutted about how shit I handled the situation. Feel so bad for him. He was only dx with autism in October so I'm still getting my head around it I suppose.

He's so limited to what he eats now. Hates cheese, anything creamy, loads of certain textures, nearly all fruit and veg, pies, alsorts. His packed lunch never looks very healthy and I'm embarrassed sending it in. He goes off foods seemingly every week. I.e. he used to like those mini pots of custard but now will only eat one flavour. Will eat ham but won't touch bacon etc.

When I got cross with him the other night I watched him eating and he was really struggling (cottage pie), it was like it was painful for him.

Does anyone else have a child like this? how do you deal with it?

I get DLA for him and keep wondering how I can use it to make his life easier (food wise) but with two other DC and one on the way I don't want to be making him separate meals!

[WhoKn0wsWhereTheMistletoes]

Yes! Me! I haven't got time for a long post now, but I started a similar thread a few months ago, will try and find it for you as it was comforting and had quite a few suggestions on it.

[WhoKn0wsWhereTheMistletoes]

old thread

He's managing ok with school dinners now, apart from Fridays when it's fish or alternative of sausages/stuff in breadcrumbs none of which he eats much of, so I am less stressed again, just resigned to working round him at home.

[BeautifulLiar]

Oh I know Polter, I feel awful and my mum used to do it to me :(

The meal was cottage pie with veg. He hated it all. What should I do next time? Not serve it again? Let him not eat anything? Not give him pudding/give him pudding? Genuine questions! The girls know to eat their tea or at least try and they usually get some form of pudding...

[BeautifulLiar]

Thanks WhoKnows. Forgot to say he's 7. Will have a look at that thread when I'm home :)

Spent ages in M&S today trying to find some kind of dairy product for his pack ups but he would've hated it all (was originally just looking for a custard pot!)

[Runningtokeepstill]

I think it's best not to call it fussy eating, since as you stated, OP, it's a serious issue with the texture, appearance and often the smell of everyday foods. If you tell most people (not on the MN special needs boards) that your dc is a fussy eater then you get advice about things like mixing veg in with the mashed potato, as is frequently suggested in parenting magazines. It used to make me want to scream. For a start my "food issue" ds's won't eat mixed up food so anything added to the mash would be rejected, and in the case of the oldest of the two, what mashed potato? - he can't stand the texture. Also, so many people think children labelled as "fussy eaters" just have lax parents who need to be more firm with them. Perhaps we could loan them our dc for a week!

My oldest of my "food issue" ds's is an adult now and still has quite a restricted diet. He's not asd but does have a lot of sensory issues. Although he saw an NHS dietician for a few years when he was young they didn't find any solution as mostly we couldn't get new foods past his lips. They did establish that he didn't have any serious nutritional deficiencies and he grew well and is very tall. His diet is more varied than it was, mainly because he wants to socialise, but it is still quite restricted by "normal" standards. The youngest one, 16, is also growing well, and still has a limited diet. He's waiting to be assessed for asd, doesn't socialise in RL and so hasn't moved on with what he'll agree to eat. Actually I think his diet is less varied than it used to be. Catering is a nightmare as I have a vegetarian that doesn't like vegetables, a meat eater who doesn't like the texture of most meat but does like vegetables and another son who likes most foods but has some severe allergies.