Good evening. Had to name change for this as could definitely be outing. My lovely DS is 17 and was diagnosed with ASD when he was 4. He had major issues around food and had such a restrictive diet for the first 5 years of his life. When he finally started to eat "normal" foods I was so relieved that I overlooked him eating with his hands etc as I was just glad he was eating.
As he got older he tried and ate more and more food types and now he eats pretty much anything.
The problem now is that his eating habits are quite frankly embarrassing. He literally shovels his food in, will put his hands in his food, drops food everywhere and gulps down his drink. It's as though he doesn't even taste what he is eating.
We have been out for dinner this evening with friends and I just felt embarrassed at the speed he was ramming his food in, it was all over his hands (pizza) and I had to get out the wet wipes that you'd carry around for a toddler.
How on earth do I deal with this in a sensitive manner? He is age appropriate when it comes to understanding but if I say the wrong thing he will literally churn it over and over for days.