4 year old son wont eat at school

[Astronaut1298]

Hi

My 4 year old son is non verbal and has Autism. Since he started reception he has come home with a full lunchbox as he hasn't eaten his food at all. His teacher just says he pushes it away and isn't interested.

I put in something different today and asked the teacher if he attempted to eat at all and she said 'well you will be able to see if you open his lunchbox if he's eaten or not, he hasn't eaten today'. I guess I was just asking if he atleast tried rather than pushed it away again

He eats without a fuss at home and was doing well at his previous nursery. I am really worried as he is going without food for so long

We are also still learning how to support our son to the best of our ability, we have asked for the SENDCO to call us earlier this week but were told it wont be till the end of next week that she may be able to call

Please if you have any suggestions, i would really appreciate it

Could you try DS eating in another room in case it is the lunch hall is too noisy &/or busy? Does he use ear defenders?

Would he eat a hot meal better? Or a less conventional packed lunch?

Is it that DS wants to spend more time outside playing?

Does DS have an EHCP?

Thank you for the suggestion. We will definitely ask them on Monday if they can move DS to another room for lunch. He doesn't use ear defenders but I do think it is the fact that there are lots of other children around and he's not used to it. He hasn't got an EHCP yet, we just got a letter saying they will go ahead with the assessment after the refusal previously. So fingers crossed!

Make sure you request all the necessary assessments e.g. SALT and OT (including sensory OT) as part of the EHCP.

Is your ds able to communicate visually? With widgets? If so, could you or school support him to communicate why he isn't eating? If he has no issues at home I'd be inclined to think it's the environment at school in which he isn't regulated enough to eat. Busy dinner halls can present a wealth of sensory issues such as noise, smells etc...

Is it a big school? Perhaps ask the teacher if there is a lunch club (our school has a sen lunch club for little ones)

Or do they have snack time during the day? Not long term solution but if he could access food at other times of the day to keep him going for now until he is settled enough to eat lunch. Such as fruit at morning break. Carton of milk in afternoon etc.

Hope this helps! I feel for you, my dd just started school it's such a transition!

Yes I agree, I do think it is because of the noise, smells etc during lunch time. Just an update, we asked if DS could be taken to a different room, and they actually took him out earlier today and he ate most of his lunch. Of course this might not be the case everyday but glad he had his lunch today! Thank you all for your suggestions!

He isnt able to communicate visually yet we are working on it though. Had a call from the psychologist earlier and she will be assessing DS at school 😀so hopefully we get the EHCP to support him

@justmewithmylifetoday good luck with it all, it can be a lot can't it!

Ah lovely to hear he's had some lunch! Step in the right direction! Hopefully by half term our lo's will be more settled! My dd has yet to drink any water at school but thankfully eating her food. 😊