Please any advice regarding restrictive diet on 6yo with ASD! It’s driving us mad!

[LeFxX]

I’m at my whits end with my autistic 6 year olds eating. His list of safe foods is getting less and less. Honestly atm ALL he eats is poppadoms, oat bars, some types of biscuits and well.. I think that’s it? They say at school he eats apples too but won’t dare at home. About a month ago he also ate raisins, yoghurts, cheese and bread too but that’s now gone.

I actually can’t cope with the worry anymore. We offer a variety of things every day and he will literally refuse to eat it. He will also throw the plate of food if we’re not quick enough too. I just don’t know what else to do? I know people say he will eat when he wants but he won’t, he will just starve if he’s offered something constantly he won’t eat.

Earlier this year he’d eat tuna pasta, pizza, chilli, rice dishes, cheese and ham wraps etc and I felt okay with this but now he literally eats such rubbish and it’s SO limited. I sit and cry about it every single day. Any advice please? 😭😭😭

Have a look at ARFID. If you can get a referral the Maudsley has an excellent clinic.

How is DS’s weight?

If DS will take them, does he take a multivitamin?

I would continue to offer safe foods. Some have success with food chaining.

Is DS receiving any support in general? How are his anxiety levels? How is school? Has DS had a sensory OT assessment?

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/boy-9-ate-nothing-shreddies-35630321.amp
Hypnosis for your son? Worked for this child.

My friend’s autistic daughter had similar issues and the advice from the dietitian was to concentrate, for a really long time (eg 6 months) on making trying new foods positive.

So, using the poppadoms in your example, you would talk about a project to try new foods and rate them. Week 1 - 6 would be different brands of plain poppadom. Then you might try a very slightly flavoured poppadom for weeks 7-12. Then a poppadom crisp etc. But basically what you’re trying to teach over the six months is that trying new things is pleasurable - you’re aiming for them liking everything they try. Lots and lots of praise for trying new things.

Then you begin very slowly adding new things. Starting with things which they are very likely to like (in your case the most recent safe foods) but making certain that at least 50 percent of new things are a win. Again, lots and lots of praise for trying new things.

A couple of tips - firstly fed is best. Definitely don’t try to restrict eating even if the foods aren’t healthy. Secondly aim for things which are consistent each time - mccains oven chips are safer than blueberries because they’re the same each time. Thirdly give a multivitamin each day. Lastly, when you’re trying to diversify the aim is something from each food group.

My friends daughter still isn’t perfect now, but she says a much much wider selection and is fine in restaurants etc now too.