Autism and food: strategies that have worked for you and your kids?

[MrsGhastlyCrumb]

Hi there- my 11 year old daughter was recently diagnosed with ASD after a very long wait. The issue we are struggling the most with at the moment is that

a) she self-soothes with food, typically overeating things which high in carbs/sugar.
b) if foods she wants to eat are not available, she will have an epic meltdown. Half the time she can't even tell us specifically what she wants- just that 'there's nothing in the house I want to eat'
c) other than junk food, it feels like the list of nourishing foods she will eat is shrinking all the time as she gets sick of things after a while. Yesterday, I cooked a meal she had requested and by the time it was ready she had gone off the idea.

Added to the above, she mostly wants to hole up in her room or play computer games. It is extremely hard to get her to engage in any physical activity. Unsurprisingly, she is putting on weight, and has been for the last couple of years. She is having to wear adult clothes, and is bigger than me (she is very tall for her age, and naturally a stocky build though).

I spoke to CAHMS about this and the nurse suggested I spoke to our local physio service (I think it was?), who suggested a local programme run by our Council's leisure service. She has attended one session out of four and hated it. To be fair, the numbers have dwindled throughout the course as it is a bit basic (think: "We are having a party. What could we eat instead of cake?") and I can see that it makes the kids feel self conscious.

I was thinking potentially of booking for one of the monthly 'Autism and Disordered Eating- Monthly Family Skills Workshop' run by these guys: www.familybasedtherapy.co.uk/, but has anyone any advice, in the meantime? Sympathy and solidarity also accepted gratefully. Oh, and if anyone has attended any of the sessions referred to above- were they useful?

Thanks in advance..!

DS is a junk food addict with ASD. Literally his favourite word is cake, he says it all the time (mostly jokingly fortunately). Anything remotely chocolate he will gorge on given half a chance, I even had a vegan, sugar and gluten free brownie that was revolting and he finished it off and thought it was lovely!. What I do now is to mix some melted montezumas 100% dark orange or mint chocolate with Lidl sugar free muslei and make like little rice crispie cakes. Makes him feel like he's having a chocolate treat but is sugar free (apart from raisins).

I would also recommend always having a snack/drink and down time when dd gets in from school, that was ds's routine for many years.

The other thing I found was that ds would decide he didn't like foods that he hadn't eaten for quite a while, as he'd literally forgotten what it was like and didn't want to try it - so i try to make sure I'm always varying things and not giving him the chance to forget.

One more thing, due to black and white thinking (I guess) ds often has 'favourite' foods and foods that aren't favourite that he would happily cut out completely. There's no middle ground, he either loves it or it's put on the 'not my absolute favourite so not going to eat it' pile. So I don't allow this now as eventually it would lead to him only eating junk - so if he wants to cut out something he has happily eaten in the past then he has to replace it with something new. He almost always finds he doesn't actually dislike it that much.....

Oh also always small portion with the chance to have more if they want it - easy to be overwhelmed by too much.

Thank you, @Choconut- I will try some of this. Much appreciated... 🙂

Bump?

One last bump...

Not really sure. Is it the taste she wants or the sensory experience of the food or the feeling of being full?

if you can figure that out it might help you know how to tackle it.

Hi @SachiLars : I'm actually not sure- and that is a good question. I think it's all of the above, though she doesn't seem to actually get full. Last night she ate three bananas in one sitting- and that was within an hour of having eaten her tea.

That session sounds really interesting. Would you feedback on it afterwards as it definitely something I might consider.

We also have a DD11 diagnosed ASD earlier this year. She also loves food, particularly carbs and beige food, and needs to rest more at the moment as she has just transitioned to secondary school.

Her diet isn't too restrictive at the moment, although she has been through phases of only eating a very limited range of things, and food can often be a bit of a flashpoint in the day, especially if she is tired or stressed.

Just realised you asked for strategies.

We've started being more up front why we want her to eat differently now that she's older. She is interested in her body, how it works and the rationale for what we eat so this seems to work at the moment.

Eg
you need protein as well as carbs to keep you going til lunchtime.

You need to eat some vegetables because they have vitamins which keep you healthy. (But offering them alongside a meal which she is happy to eat.)

Those are better for you because they have 'slow energy'.

I've also relaxed a bit about it all, given all the change she's coping with.