Dinner Anyone?

It's always nice to be able to sit down as a family and eat a meal together. It's hard for many families in today's world to make sure everyone is on the same schedule. Some kiddos have sports, some parents are working at dinnertime, homework, etc. There's always something that comes up that can distract a family from being able to dine together.

Many parents with kiddos who have been diagnosed with ASD have much more to deal with than just finding time to eat together. A lot of  kiddos on the spectrum have aversions to certain foods, and they are not being "picky" as some may think. Some have sensory issues with the certain textures. Some textures could be like having sandpaper in your mouth, or a slimy texture might cause the gag reflex to kick in.

Other people with autism have issues with their digestion and this can cause certain foods to make it uncomfortable or even painful to eat. Many people on the spectrum have a very "high pain tolerance" (don't feel pain until it reaches a high level), which can make it so certain foods "build up" before they realize it makes them sick.

We've found that our boys won't eat regular yogurt, but they love the Gerber Graduates Yogurt Melts. They will eat some french fries but not mashed potatoes, or baked. There are other things like this, so we've figured out that it's the texture, not the actual food.

This will probably sound odd, but I admit I'm kind of jealous of the way many autistic kiddos are when it comes to eating. They listen to their bodies. They don't care that it isn't "lunch time", they just know that their body is hungry and it's time to eat. They know what they want (usually), and they don't tend to overeat. When they are hungry - they eat, when they are full - they stop eating. Because of this, when our boys let us know they are hungry, we provide as many healthy choices as we can for eating. They are slowly building their own food menu as time goes on. When given the opportunity, they will eat several small meals throughout the day.

We have learned through trial and error to make our meals basic. We don't make anything "special" just for them, at least not at this point. We make what we eat on a regular basis. We make a meal that will feed all four of us, but we also let the boys request what they want for supper. We have them sit with us at the table with us (even if they have eaten earlier). Then we will make a small plate with the food we are eating, and allow them to try it. They are more apt to try it by watching us eat it, and they've increased their diet options since we started doing this.

Some ABA providers also have eating programs that can be incorporated into the kiddos program. All of these things used in concert can help get a kiddo eating. We just need to watch and learn from our babes what they need. I highly recommend checking with your pediatrician if your little one doesn't eat properly. What we did was check with the:

1. pediatrician
2. ABA eating program
3. GI - Gastroenterologist
4. OT - occupational therapist

If we need to go another step at some point it will be with a dietician. Some other people will go to a psychologist as well, but I have a hard time going that route since our boys are mostly non-verbal. Like many things in the world of autism, it's observation, interaction and trial and error.

We were raised to eat everything that was put on our plate, we know that is not the right mentality to have with food at all. Even if we "carried on" that "tradition", that's not something we can do with our kiddos. We are learning to understand that they may not be hungry, have a sensory issue or an intolerance to certain foods. We no longer "push" our little ones to eat if they aren't hungry, and we don't "force" any foods on them. We do provide several healthy options for them and give many opportunity's for them to try new foods. So far, it's worked.

From a mother's heart - I like to think that we all like to try to eat better every day. Our bodies were designed to need and use certain foods for energy and growth. All we can do is provide different options for our little ones to choose from.
God Bless

ASD (autism spectrum disorder); ABA (applied behavior analysis);