One of the more challenging aspects of being a special needs parent to three boys with Autism, is meal times.
I haven’t been able to get Emmett to eat much lately.
It’s really frustrating for me because I want my son to eat and it breaks my heart to know that sometimes, despite my best efforts, he just won’t eat.
This morning however, Emmett wanted to try Ritz Crackers and peanut butter.
I made him four little sandwiches or which he actually ate two of them. That’s a total of four crackers and bit of peanut butter.
At this point, I’m grateful for this tiny little victory and hope to expand upon it in the future.
I feel the struggle my son wants to live on pizza rolls, pancakes and noodles U0001f61e
What amazing insight you’ve gifted us with. Thank you.. 🙂 I’ve never battled over food because that just makes it worse for them. I will encourage new things but like you said, forcing just makes it worse.
My oldest has gotten much better with eating but my two youngest are soooooo difficult to feed and forget a balanced meal…
Thanks again… I truly appreciate it.
I’m actually REALLY lucky when it comes to food. Reece has Celiac’s, so.. Everything in the house is gluten free… But, the boy eats. He won’t eat heavy meats.. Like, pork chops.. But.. He loves thin sliced ham/turkey for sandwiches.. And hotdogs.. He will eat any fruit.. He loves scrambled eggs. Veggies, not so much.. But I definetly get more into him than the standard chicken nuggets and pizza. (He actually won’t eat pizza.. Lol). I grate zuchinni into cakes .. And hide pureed roasted eggplant in the cheese sauce for Mac&cheese.. My dad was a chef… I learned young.. And I’m able to get creative within what I know as his sensory boundaries.
Yep, we on the autism spectrum like to gravitate to certain foods. I have been eating peanut butter sandwiches for lunch (or sometimes dinner) for over 50 years now.  Though, some days I can’t stand the sight of peanut butter. Here is the important part: If you let us, we will eat the same foods all the time until we get sick of it (that does actually happen) or you show us something else that is more interesting. When my daughter was growing up, it was just the two of us, both on the autism spectrum. The neurotypical breakfast, lunch and dinner went out the window. Often, neither of us liked the same foods at the same time. So we did not eat the same foods at the same time. We ate different foods at different times. We both are quite healthy. Try small amounts of different foods, different food groups to try to maximize nutrition and different colors to see which colors your child prefers. Yes, it takes more effort to experiment with different foods than to make your child eat what everyone else is eating at a particular time of day (ie. breakfast, lunch, dinner). Whatever you do, don’t get into battles over food. If you do this , the repercussions are eating becomes an anxiety-inducing activity which will lead to life-long eating problems and potentially eating disorders. Julie Sullivan Relunia’s idea of hiding zucchini and eggplant in other foods is a great idea. My daughter refuses to eat almost all vegetables–texture has a lot to do with it. She will eat Caesar salad for some reason but that’s it. Don’t give up, you can do this!
The trick is to not do meal times. I know that’s what neurotypical society tells you to do but mealtimes can be very anxiety-inducing for an autistic person. I know I am one and I raised one.
I like this with sliced banana!
Jack ate couscous (plain steamed) and onion gravy for every meal for 27 months. I was just grateful something was going in. Today he is obese bcos he will only eat carbs I own the guilt and the drama of remediating the awful food & eating habits he has…but only those of us who have to fight this battle everyday really get the constant trauma of meal times. Doing it X3, hats off. If it sits on a Ritz as they say…
I feel the struggle my son wants to live on pizza rolls, pancakes and noodles U0001f61e
What amazing insight you’ve gifted us with. Thank you.. 🙂 I’ve never battled over food because that just makes it worse for them. I will encourage new things but like you said, forcing just makes it worse.
My oldest has gotten much better with eating but my two youngest are soooooo difficult to feed and forget a balanced meal…
Thanks again… I truly appreciate it.
The trick is to not do meal times. I know that’s what neurotypical society tells you to do but mealtimes can be very anxiety-inducing for an autistic person. I know I am one and I raised one.
I’m actually REALLY lucky when it comes to food. Reece has Celiac’s, so.. Everything in the house is gluten free… But, the boy eats. He won’t eat heavy meats.. Like, pork chops.. But.. He loves thin sliced ham/turkey for sandwiches.. And hotdogs.. He will eat any fruit.. He loves scrambled eggs. Veggies, not so much.. But I definetly get more into him than the standard chicken nuggets and pizza. (He actually won’t eat pizza.. Lol). I grate zuchinni into cakes .. And hide pureed roasted eggplant in the cheese sauce for Mac&cheese.. My dad was a chef… I learned young.. And I’m able to get creative within what I know as his sensory boundaries.
Yep, we on the autism spectrum like to gravitate to certain foods. I have been eating peanut butter sandwiches for lunch (or sometimes dinner) for over 50 years now. Though, some days I can’t stand the sight of peanut butter. Here is the important part: If you let us, we will eat the same foods all the time until we get sick of it (that does actually happen) or you show us something else that is more interesting. When my daughter was growing up, it was just the two of us, both on the autism spectrum. The neurotypical breakfast, lunch and dinner went out the window. Often, neither of us liked the same foods at the same time. So we did not eat the same foods at the same time. We ate different foods at different times. We both are quite healthy. Try small amounts of different foods, different food groups to try to maximize nutrition and different colors to see which colors your child prefers. Yes, it takes more effort to experiment with different foods than to make your child eat what everyone else is eating at a particular time of day (ie. breakfast, lunch, dinner). Whatever you do, don’t get into battles over food. If you do this , the repercussions are eating becomes an anxiety-inducing activity which will lead to life-long eating problems and potentially eating disorders. Julie Sullivan Relunia’s idea of hiding zucchini and eggplant in other foods is a great idea. My daughter refuses to eat almost all vegetables–texture has a lot to do with it. She will eat Caesar salad for some reason but that’s it. Don’t give up, you can do this!
Jack ate couscous (plain steamed) and onion gravy for every meal for 27 months. I was just grateful something was going in. Today he is obese bcos he will only eat carbs I own the guilt and the drama of remediating the awful food & eating habits he has…but only those of us who have to fight this battle everyday really get the constant trauma of meal times. Doing it X3, hats off. If it sits on a Ritz as they say…
I like this with sliced banana!
What amazing insight you’ve gifted us with. Thank you.. 🙂 I’ve never battled over food because that just makes it worse for them. I will encourage new things but like you said, forcing just makes it worse.
My oldest has gotten much better with eating but my two youngest are soooooo difficult to feed and forget a balanced meal…
Thanks again… I truly appreciate it.
The trick is to not do meal times. I know that’s what neurotypical society tells you to do but mealtimes can be very anxiety-inducing for an autistic person. I know I am one and I raised one.
Yep, we on the autism spectrum like to gravitate to certain foods. I have been eating peanut butter sandwiches for lunch (or sometimes dinner) for over 50 years now. Though, some days I can’t stand the sight of peanut butter. Here is the important part: If you let us, we will eat the same foods all the time until we get sick of it (that does actually happen) or you show us something else that is more interesting. When my daughter was growing up, it was just the two of us, both on the autism spectrum. The neurotypical breakfast, lunch and dinner went out the window. Often, neither of us liked the same foods at the same time. So we did not eat the same foods at the same time. We ate different foods at different times. We both are quite healthy. Try small amounts of different foods, different food groups to try to maximize nutrition and different colors to see which colors your child prefers. Yes, it takes more effort to experiment with different foods than to make your child eat what everyone else is eating at a particular time of day (ie. breakfast, lunch, dinner). Whatever you do, don’t get into battles over food. If you do this , the repercussions are eating becomes an anxiety-inducing activity which will lead to life-long eating problems and potentially eating disorders. Julie Sullivan Relunia’s idea of hiding zucchini and eggplant in other foods is a great idea. My daughter refuses to eat almost all vegetables–texture has a lot to do with it. She will eat Caesar salad for some reason but that’s it. Don’t give up, you can do this!
I’m actually REALLY lucky when it comes to food. Reece has Celiac’s, so.. Everything in the house is gluten free… But, the boy eats. He won’t eat heavy meats.. Like, pork chops.. But.. He loves thin sliced ham/turkey for sandwiches.. And hotdogs.. He will eat any fruit.. He loves scrambled eggs. Veggies, not so much.. But I definetly get more into him than the standard chicken nuggets and pizza. (He actually won’t eat pizza.. Lol). I grate zuchinni into cakes .. And hide pureed roasted eggplant in the cheese sauce for Mac&cheese.. My dad was a chef… I learned young.. And I’m able to get creative within what I know as his sensory boundaries.
Jack ate couscous (plain steamed) and onion gravy for every meal for 27 months. I was just grateful something was going in. Today he is obese bcos he will only eat carbs I own the guilt and the drama of remediating the awful food & eating habits he has…but only those of us who have to fight this battle everyday really get the constant trauma of meal times. Doing it X3, hats off. If it sits on a Ritz as they say…
I like this with sliced banana!
I feel the struggle my son wants to live on pizza rolls, pancakes and noodles U0001f61e