Playing with food

[Eulalia]

Not exactly a huge problem in the great scheme of things but rather tiresome. I just wanted to compare eating habits with the other autistic kids here and also to ask the mums of the older ones when they grow out of this.

Breakfast is worst. ds has hot oat cereal with a small bowl of sugar (wish I had never started this habit but it was a way of controlling sugar intake) on the side. He sprinkles the sugar on the cereal but then it soon gets everywhere and he ends up with great sticky gobs of sugary and gluey mush on his hands, clothes and all over the table.

Lunch may be the same with soup and yoghurt. Sometimes he may deliberately smear the yoghurt onto the table.

He has good control over his hands, psychologists have noted he has good scissor control and pencil grip so why doesn't he seem able to hold a spoon at the right angle to stop it spilling? I guess because he doesn't care about spilling but will he ever? I don't want him to start school and behave like a baby at lunch time.

He will also tend to finish his meal and just throw the plate or spoon across the room! He is 4 (5 in July) and doesn't seem to be getting any better with these eating habits.

My AS son is nearly 6, and although he has quite a sophisticated understanding of the world around him, he still has problems with mealtimes.

He also really struggles with holding spoons and forks correctly, and has to be reminded. The only way I can give him soup is if I break up pieces of bread in it and let that soak up all the liquid, or spoonfeed it it him. Whatever he eats, a fair amount will end up on him, the floor, the wall, the table, on his clothes.

I make things easier for myself by:- putting a kids full length PVC apron on him at mealtimes if its something messy. (His apron is really funky, with bright coloured animals, he likes wearing it, as he does not enjoy being covered in food). I feed him in the kitchen, as all sufaces are easy to clean. I've found that HEAVY cutlery seems to be easier for him to use, maybe the weight helps him remember that he's holding it? I make sure TV, radio & other distractions are all removed at mealtimes - if I didn't he'd starve & watch TV rather than eat.

He has improved a bit over the last year, but keeps developing rituals involving his food, which I have to try stop quickly before the habits become established.

Just wish I could stop him zoning out while holding drinks and dropping them or spilling them all over himself. Making him sit at table with a drink helps a bit, as he can put it down between sips, but that's not always possible. thankfully, he likes using waterbottles with "sports" caps which is cutting down on spills, as they don't spill much when dropped.

Will try an apron as he won't wear a bib anymore artistmum. He does use a heavy spoon for soup but at times tends to like to lick the soup from the spoon. I guess it is just a sensation thing. I try to stand over him but its difficult with dd there too. His latest fad is "its got bits in it" and won't eat whatever even if it has the tiniest speck on it. So all his food has to be 'clean'.

artistmum - last week I bought a set of stainless steel mugs which both kids really like. they are quite heavy so don't get knocked over and of course aren't breakable. We use sports bottles when out in the car.