Is this a reasonable adjustment or do I need to get a drs letter for packed lunch issues ?

[packedlunchproblems]

Ds has ASD (and possibly ARFID) . Only eats certain foods and lunch every day for years has been sugar free squash, a banana, a pack of mini breadsticks, a babybel and a big petit filous pot. School have changed the rules this year and now say only water or milk. Do I say it’s a reasonable adjustment and keep sending the squash or will it require a drs letter to allow him to continue to have this as it’s the only thing he drinks

But you can buy ready to drink (ie already diluted) squash drinks. 🤷🏼‍♀️

If your GP isn't an idiot.
Some GP's will still trot out the "child won't starve themselves" nonsense.
DD was like this and we used a coloured flask or flavoured water so nobody knew. There was a spate of "water bottle sniffing" by 1 teacher but we ignored it and kept doing the same.
DD started drinking water from around 12/13 though thankfully

One of the things with ARFID is that it’s not necessarily just safe foods but in a safe container/box/bottle and given to them by a safe person in a safe place.

ARFID is very difficult to explain all the nuances of but is often very rule driven and controlled by the individual. They might love squash but will only drink it out of a glass and it must be with room temperature tap water, not chilled water from a fridge (or vice versa).

I think @Andwegoroundagain is getting a bit of a hard time on here! It was a reasonable question and, while I know it's easier to avoid eating, I'm sure this boy wouldn't avoid water forever!
It's the rule of 3 -
3 weeks without food and 3 days without water.

like Ribena, or fruit shoots?

which is what I said and got shot down for?

Really? if that’s the case how is it some people with anorexia resist food to the point that they do die?

Ok no problem you can’t reason with stupid 🤦‍♀️
the point was it doesn’t matter if the OP call it squash or not.

Unfortunately that is the issue with ARFID and why children with it around adults with that attitude end up in hospital being peg fed and having fluids via IV. It’s really not as simple as they will eventually drink or eat anything when thirsty or hungry enough. If it was, parents would rejoice that it was all that straightforward and the NHS would be saved a fortune.

You're sure are you?
I was too until I had a child with ARFID

Yes, people die from anorexia. As I said avoiding food is relatively easy but you have to have fluids! If you don't drink for 3 days you die.

Which is the sad reality for some people with ARFID and why the NHS spends so much money on IV fluids because your theory that they will drink just doesn’t happen. It’s like saying put someone who can’t swim in the sea to get to shore and they will learn because they have to in order to survive. They will either drown or need to be rescued. That’s ARFID.

It does matter because if the kid is rocking up to school with a fruit shoot it’s very obviously not going to be allowed! Weak squash in a bottle and a bloody fruit shoot are not equal!

I feel this is going off on a tangent with people who don’t understand the law or eating disorders but if a child is diagnosed with ARFID (unlike in the OP, although I think autism with selective eating is sufficient) and a fruit shoot is all they will drink then it will have to be accommodated. It’s possible the school will ask the child to go to the office to drink but legally it’s a RA if they drink nothing else.

Robinson squash ingredients and fruit shoot ingredients. Please tell me the difference? No one knows how concentrated the squash would be if made up so let’s not make things up now eh?
and I’ll say it again for the hard of thinking as a reasonable adjustment it doesn’t matter it doesn’t matter one little bit if it’s a fruit shoot or squash in a bottle.

Sadly, that is very true, @Hoppinggreen 🙄

I suppose I should have written “the correct medical advice…” 😂

I’d ignore the majority of the posters OP. I have a child with issues with food and drinks. He will point blank vomit and have a meltdown if I even try to go near him with anything not on his safe list. He will not even sit on the sofa with me if I’m eating something, he has even gone upstairs while we are eating our tea. I tried the nothing nice approach, he didn’t eat for 2 days. Are you under dietician at hospital at all? We are x

Honestly my son would rather starve/dehydrate than drink something he doesnt deem is 'safe'. We have had several hospital admissions and our GP will still trot out this shit if we ever go and see him about anything!

As an example. My son will eat Babybels for lunch, but will only eat them for lunch and he will only eat them at school. in the school holidays he cant replace it with something else so at lunchtimes he doesnt eat anything.

On a saturday he goes to a youth club for children with ASD. They sell orange clubs so he will buy one and eat it there, but he wont eat them anywhere else. If I chance buying them to have at home they will become unsafe and he wont eat them.

Many people understand the trauma of other eating disorders such as Anorexia or Bulimia. ARFID is just as difficult to navigate in some ways. I wonder if people would advocate talking such shite to someone with anorexia.

@TravellingSpoon You're right that many people, including myself, know very little about AFRID. I've just Googled and saw that this eating disorder diagnosis was only introduced in 2013, so it'll be unfamiliar to many people. As you say, the trauma of other eating disorders such as Anorexia and Bulimia is far more widely understood.

I had no idea that it could result in hospitalizations, I hope that things become easier for your son, it sounds horrific for you all.