Read more about the article What makes a corndog inedible? 
Autism Parenting Insight / Emmett John / Feeding Problems / My thoughts / Sensory

What makes a corndog inedible? 

This is my life, and as a parent to three with Autism, I deal with this stuff every single meal, of every single day. My goal with this post is to help put into context, what both people with Autism and their families or caregivers, deal with.  The pictures below are just one example of how sensory processing disorder and Autism can impact things like eating.  These are more dramatic examples because the imperfections are much more obvious. Many times however, the imperfections are much more subtle and only noticeable to one Mr. Emmett.  I can see why he sees this as a problem but it in no way impacts the corndog.  In his eyes, this is absolutely inedible and he would never dream of actually consuming this, regardless of…

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August 15, 2017
Read more about the article Why lunch was a sensory nightmare
Autism Parenting Struggles / Emmett John / Feeding Problems / Fever Cycle / My thoughts / PFAPA / Sensory

Why lunch was a sensory nightmare

Emmett's still in the opening stretch of his current fever cycle, and he's incredibly difficult to manage as a result. I've mentioned before that when he's in a fever flare, many of his Autism related challenges are exacerbated.  Typically, the biggest challenge during the period of time the flare is active is sensory related.  He becomes so much more sensitive to everything around him.  Making lunch today was a nightmare that resulted in a massive, but relatively short lived meltdown. It had to do with a pepperoni sandwich that wasn't perfect.  Sometimes he likes to make his own sandwich because it must be perfect. I should also add that he rarely ever eats a sandwich because he rarely eats bread. I don't know why it's okay sometimes and not okay…

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July 27, 2017
Read more about the article Handling meals in an #Autism household
Feeding Problems / My thoughts / Sensory

Handling meals in an #Autism household

Keeping it simple for dinner tonight. While I was able to go shopping last week, I wasn't able to go extensive shopping.  I rarely actually cook anymore because no one ever eats the same thing.  We try to stock things we know the boys will usually eat. Things like Ramen Noodles, chicken nuggets, hardboiled eggs, cereal, fruit, and other things that can be quickly put together.  I wish we could do complete meals but the kids struggle too much with sensory processing issues and that's not easily accomplished, especially in a limited budget.  How do you handle mealtimes in your Autism household? 

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June 18, 2017
Read more about the article He won’t even eat corn dogs anymore 
Emmett John / Feeding Problems / My thoughts / Sensory

He won’t even eat corn dogs anymore 

The continuing saga of Emmett no longer eating the things he historically has, keeps getting worse. In this latest chapter, he no longer eats his most favorite food of all time.  There have been two goto foods that Emmett has always been able to eat, should all else fail. One is Little Caesars pizza, and second is corn dogs.  Little Caesars pizza has become sorta hit or miss lately but he will still eat it warm. Unfortunately, corn dogs are no longer an option. We went through several the other day and none tasted right.  Emmett's become very difficult to feed because nothing he eats tastes right to him anymore. He only regularly ate a handful of different foods and so losing anything is a major issue.  It's really frustrating…

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April 17, 2017
Read more about the article Feeding Emmett is getting more challenging 
Emmett John / Feeding Problems / Sensory

Feeding Emmett is getting more challenging 

I wanted to share a quick example of why it's so hard to keep Emmett, my youngest with Autism, fed.  Below you will see a picture of a piece of pizza that Emmett wanted to eat this morning. After heating it up however, he began to panic and ultimately decided that he couldn't eat it because it was missing some cheese at the very tip of the triangular slice.  There is absolutely no way to work through this with him.  I'm so frustrated because he's not eating much of anything, as a result of these sensory issues. I don't have the budget left to survive this right now, but Emmett needs to eat.  It's becoming increasingly more difficult to help him find something he's capable of eating.  Can anyone else…

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April 15, 2017
Read more about the article Has anyone faced this bizarre #sensory processing issue before? 
Emmett John / Feeding Problems / My thoughts / Sensory

Has anyone faced this bizarre #sensory processing issue before? 

Recently, Emmett has been struggling a great deal more with eating. If you've followed our story for awhile, you might recall that we have an enormous challenge when it comes to Emmett and eating. He's extremely sensory oriented and struggles with things like food, clothes, noise and shitload of anxiety. The anxiety serves to make everything worse. Anyway, Emmett has a very small menu of foods he'll eat, and that makes it challenging to feed him. He's very sensitive to things like taste, smell, color, shape, packaging, presentation and imperfections. It's not uncommon for me to have to remake something a few times because something about it wasn't right. Recently, Emmett has begun saying things like, this doesn't taste right. The problem is, what doesn't taste right, happens to be…

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April 8, 2017
Read more about the article Can you relate to this 1 major challenge of #Autism Parenting? 
#Autism Discussions / Autism Parenting Woes / Feeding Problems / My thoughts / Sensory

Can you relate to this 1 major challenge of #Autism Parenting? 

I find it incredibly difficult to ensure that my kids with Autism maintain a balanced diet. For that matter, I have such a hard time simply getting my kids to eat anything. We are very much a sensory oriented family and that presents many obstacles for me as a parent. The biggest being how unbelievably sensitive my two youngest are when it comes to things like texture, smell, color, presentation, shape and yes, even packaging. When there is literally only a handful of things your child will eat, aiming for a balanced diet becomes a pipe dream. How many of you can relate to my experience? Please share examples of your challenges with feeding issues in the comments below...  

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January 29, 2017