ASD food difficulties..... advice needed.

[creatovator]

DS is 10 yrs old and through a great deal of hard work I've managed over the years to get a balanced diet into him at home. He doesn't always know when he's hungry and doesn't eat much in the way of meat or fruit and veg in their hard forms. This past week has been a bit of a nightmare because we've been out and no matter how hard I've tried he hasn't eaten enough.

Today he was tired and clumsy by 4pm because of it.

We are trying to get him to eat different types of food through the slow, smell first, then lick the next time, then chew the next time. The smelling and licking go fine, but when he tries the chewing it ends up being spat out. We try rewards like ice cream if he can chew and swallow a tiny piece of carrot (which he eats happily blitzed up in soup), but to no avail.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I was really concerned about him today .

The pureed fruit tubes are quite handy - I know they are low in calories and high in sugar - but a couple of them may keep him going for an extra hour or so.

I may well be barking on the completely wrong tree, but has his blood sugar ever been tested? That thing you said about him being clumsy after some time without food- is he always like that?

Thanks for these answers.

Tiredness He eats lots of cheese sandwiches, but I felt all the bread was giving him wind. I used to pack snacks and still do for longer trips... I guess he's been running about a bit more this week though, so should do the snack pack again . We do the multivits and minerals thing too.

Evei I have the fruit tubes. I have to watch the number of times he has sugar/fruit in the day as his teeth haven't been that strong and he's already had one operation on them .

Paribus He's only tired and clumsy if he hasn't eaten well for a couple of days and has been running about lots, which was the case this week. I have thought of getting his blood sugar checked and it's a good idea. I might take him to the drs just to get a bit more advice on his diet anyway.

OP my 8yo ASD DS is very similiar. He eats a limited range of foods. Much younger he was on what I call the 'white food diet' white bread, philadelphia, Petit Filous etc.

Like you I have pushed, pushed, pushed so that now he will eat an OK range of foods at home.
Travelling is difficult. He wont eat strange food so I have to rely on what I bring.

I have cooked and frozen pizzas that defrost while we are on the go. Ditto with chicken breast (only eaten with salt and garlic mayonnaise!). Sandwiches, apples.
I always bring too much for him and just put the food wastage down to one of those things he needs.

ds2 was in and out of hospital for years with his eating problems and I got really peeved when people would tell me to stop fussing and he would eat when he was hungry. Fortunately his asd consultant recognised that it wasn't a case of a fussy child. He wasn't able to recognise the sensation of hunger. He actually features in this book (he is case 8) which I recommend you get a copy of.

Would also recommend you get some paediatric seravit and some maxijul the latter is available without prescription but you have to order it via boots. they basically kept him alive for several years.

Now despite great ormond street saying he would never eat a solid meal he tucks into Christmas dinner just like the rest of us. there is light at the other end of the tunnel - it can take years as it did with us but we got there. he is now 16 with a waist of 26/27 and he's taller than me but thats not hard as I'm only 5'2''

For some of us, the sensory issues around food are also to do with the sound of crunching into things. It sounds like gunshot happening in our mouth. Hugely unpleasant. It can be why we'll back nervously away from hard foods.

I am sure you have been through this already but have you tried prepare his mouth before eating something new, such as massage of the gums with your fingers (quite strong), pressure on teeth, pressure on lips and gums, massage of tongue with electric toothbrush....
It helped my son a little.

Thank you so much for all these tips. As usual the support everyone gives is so, so helpful. Even just knowing that we will get there eventually and we're doing the right things.

Amber just a quick question - why can he eat crisps, breaksticks, mince, pasta and sauce, broccoli, bread and ice cream, and not eat meat in other forms, any other veg (except pureed in soup) and raw fruit. As an 18 month yr old he would eat grapes, bananas and apples raw .

Liliuk I've not done the massaging his mouth... how do you get your son to accept it?

Thinking...hmm...crisps turn to mush in the mouth eventually. So do breadsticks and bread. And mince, and pasta, and sauce... and broccoli squishes down to almost smooth with a bit of chewing. None of those has a sour taste like most fruit does.
In autism, our brain layers keep developing into new shapes for years. (Much longer than would happen for non-autistic people). So, different bits of our brain connect and unconnect over time, and bits connect that shouldn't...or connect up in amazing ways that give abilities that non-autistic people don't have. Things we could handle early on become very difficult, and vice-versa, until it all settles long enough for us to get used to stuff. (Info from a decent brain scientist). So that might well explain some of this.

Not sure if that helps...

That's really helpful. Do you think if I persevere for long enough then he'll get used to some of the stuff? It's kind of what I've been doing anyway. Bless him... he's usually willing to try eating a tiny little bit. I think we're getting there with green beans. He has been ripping them open and eating either a tiny bit of the pod or a bean recently. He even made Mmmm sounds with the tiny bit he ate the other day .

Who's the scientist chappy? Don't think I've found him on my studies.

I'm not on the spectrum tho' I see traits and I just keep thinking that I used to refuse all veggies as a kid, and it took me until I was in my 20s before I really ate any . Now I really enjoy some and just eat others cos they're good for me Lol.

I'm so rubbish at names - he was working in the UK but then went over to Canada to continue his scientific studies. Will see if I can trace his name.

Yes, it's worth persevering with. We may need 30 attempts at a new food before we've figured out how to handle the sensory experience of it.