How to get son to stop gagging on veggies?

[Rivkah]

My six year old with PDD-NOS who has speech problems, processing delay (though IQ is through the roof), and some behavior problems gags and pukes at even the mention of giving him a veggie. He is reluctant to try new foods, and most of the time the only thing we can get him to eat is either peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or some form of wheat covered in cheese. HELP! We can't afford to keep feeding him different from the rest of the family, and with me being Celiac and my boyfriend being a vegetarian, our grocery bill for three different diets is through the roof!

Any way to disguise it somehow and move him into it slowly?

We have this issue with DS2, as he often can not/will not eat certain foods, especially certain textures. He ate cottage pie the other day, as for some reason (thankfully) he decided he wanted to try it (after years of trying to get him to!), but he literally gagged his way through every bite that had mashed potato in it. I'll give him credit for trying though. That's the first time I've seen him attempt to bypass that gagging feeling to try something. And sadly, I have no clue at all what made him want to try it. Wish I did, as I'd use it to have him try other things.

DD is 11 and still cant eat a whole veggie! She does however eat them mashed in mash potato. So her sunday roast has roast and a small amount of mash with broccoli, carrots etc in it. She also likes sweet potato and butternut squash mash so we sometimes disguise in that Also we liquidise stews and soups and so she has a bowl to accompany her main meal sometimes :)

isn't it funny - your DD only seems to like it mashed or in soup - and our DS2 won't touch it if it's mashed or in soup...

Roast meals here are accompanied by yorkshire puddings (a favourite), raw carrots (everyone else eats cooked carrots), peas (which he'll eat one at a time with his fingers ) and roast potatoes (but only if you call them "fancy chips"). Whenever we have someone over, we run through it just to let them know what's up before we sit down.

with dd2 we have a 'two try' rule.
the gag is/ was a reflex, and for her was triggered partly by the fact she didn't know what it felt/ tasted like, and a texture response. so for her to say she doesn't like it, she needs to try it twice. she's allowed to gag/ retch for the first mouthful, but then has to concentrate and try a second mouthful (without gagging or retching, because now she knows what it tastes/ feels like) and then decide whether she likes it or not. the first mouthful doesn't count.

she has pretty much trained herself out of the gag reflex now, but boy, it took a while.

(and all of the other ideas....)

Triggles DD is a everthing mashed child and she is NT!

DS is like yours he cannot abide anything mashed or covered in sauce or gravy. He too has a raw carrot on a plate aside his dinner But he loves veg and has been known to eat nothing for tea but a desert dish full of peas!