Dd is 12, she has ASD and severe communication issues although she can now follow simple instructions and knows what ‘no’ means.
We have always had a huge issue with food and her steeling things, so much so that I have locks on doors around the house including the kitchen. I have slowly been trying to re introduce having a few doors left open because I feel having locks isn’t going to solve the problem longtearm. When we visit other people houses she will try and raid their kitchens and will take what she likes (I can’t take her anywhere). She does understand rules and copes well at school (ASD specialist school) but has been known to take food during food tech and cake sales.
I am stumped for ideas, I have tried social stories, I have tried giving her rules in writing and putting signs on doors, all have worked for a few days but then she ignores them.
She’s eating so much, she has breakfast before getting in the taxi to school, has toast when she gets to school, snack of fruit and toast at break time followed by a cooked meal for lunch. When she gets home from school she will literally grab what ever she can lay her hands on, today she has grabbed 4 cake bars and ran upstairs with them, I shouted “what have you taken” and she says “nothing” so on top of the steeling she is lying, I followed her upstairs and took the cake bars off her and have told her “no taking food without asking”, she then says “can I have them” and I explain to her that “no she can’t as they are meant to last the week”.
This week she has gotten through a weeks shopping in a couple days, it’s costing me a fortune, I can’t just buy what we need each day as we live quite far from a supermarket so I tend to do one or 2 shops a week. The whole point of her having cooked school meals was to save money and save me cooking but she comes home and stuffs her face and will then have a cooked dinner most evenings ( or beans on toast, noodles or crackers and cheese).
How can I stop her taking stuff? It’s not just food but food is the main thing, she will take stuff from the bathroom and a couple times has taken toys from school.