Feeding Difficulties

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-29-2006
Feeding Difficulties
10
Tue, 04-08-2008 - 11:17am

I posted this on the ASD board and thought I would get your thoughts here as well too!

My daughter is three, has been diagnosed with autism, and has decided in the past six months to completely quit eating anything even slightly nutritious for her.

She has a history of feeding difficulties from birth and the problems have always varied. We knew she had some sensory preferences and some foods have always been off limits for her. However, in the past six months, she has stopped eating even the preferred foods. First, it was dinner she refused to eat - no matter what I served. Then, it was lunches that were refused in the past month and now she's beginning to do it with breakfasts.

Her expressive communication is limited - while she is chatty, she isn't able to explain why she won't or can't eat.

We have tried EVERYTHING that is usually recommended. We do everything we are "supposed" to do to encourage healthy eating habits. We have seen two psychologists and several speech and occupational therapists and no one seems to be able to pin down anything concrete that will actually help.

My daughter likes novelty (I know, not typically autistic behavior). She likes the newness of a situation or strategy or even food. Then, she wises up, lets herself really feel what she thinks of the situation and does away with the person, the situation, the food, the strategy, the schedule, you name it, almost never to return to it with any effect again.

Has anyone experienced this? How do I find a specialist that can look at my daughter as an individual and not a diagnosis? For example, she has very specific behaviors that are both atypical to autism and to typical development. She doesn't fit the book no matter which box you try to put her in and I need help. I'm really getting frustrated and feel like I'm at the point where I cannot see this with an objective eye anymore and need someone to work with my daughter regularly, not just hand off a list of suggestions I could have found on the internet for picky eaters. Ok, that was a bit of a rant. But, does this sound familiar to anyone?

As a side note, there aren't any medical reasons that have been discovered for this behavior. All the "usuals" have been ruled out and the medical world is saying it's behavioral.

Laura
Isabella 1-4-05
Bryan 12-9-06

Laura Isabella 1-4-05 Bryan 12-9-06
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-28-2006
Tue, 04-08-2008 - 12:24pm

Laura, if she isn't eating much right now have you tried drinks like ensure, or even carnation instant breakfast to get something in her?

Avatar for insideout418
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Tue, 04-08-2008 - 5:18pm

My son Isaac is kinda like that with the food too...anyway, he likes to try new things, he'll get obsessed with them for a few days, then (usually after I buy a ton of whatever it was) he will turn and say he hates it.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-25-2003
Tue, 04-08-2008 - 7:11pm

ooooooh yeah... I totally relate.

I have sooo BTDT. In fact I wrote one of the picky eater tips documents you will find on the Internet. Here is the link to mine. The only thing I will say in my defense is that mine is Autism specific.

http://onesickmother.typepad.com/my_weblog/tips-for-picky-eaters.html

I have a few more suggestions. There may be some kind of pattern to the food she will tolerate. Many Auties/aspies like crispy/crunchy. Some may only likes soft food. Some like white foods, so they will eat bread, pasta, rice, pudding and bok choy but freak out if you hand them an M&M.

I remember reading Donna William's book and she mentioned that she would eat foods that were associated with things she loved. She loved rabbits, so she would eat lettuce. She loved colored glass, so she would eat jell-o because it looked like colored glass. I think she was rather an extreme case, but I found it interesting that she imposed these rules on herself. I think rules are key, which is why I think it is important to have rules around food, eating and mealtimes for our kids. If mom makes rules, the kid is relieved of that pressure, you know?

Anyhoo, if you can figure out the pattern, you can work on first expanding her range within it. Say the pattern is "white". First you can introduce new white foods, and then you work on expanding the range by introducing foods that are *close* to the pattern. So you could introduce white corn, and once that is a favorite, try yellow and white mixed. and gradually move onto straight yellow corn.

Another trick is the associations a la Donna Williams. This didn't work for us: Peter's obsession at the time was tigers but there wa no way he was eating red meat or a carrot (orange like a tiger)! But every kid is different.

All of this will take a lot of time and patience BTW. It took us weeks to introduce each new food. The process did get a lot faster for us as he became used to it and as trust was established.

I hope this helps

-Paula


visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com

-Paula

visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
Avatar for insideout418
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Tue, 04-08-2008 - 7:33pm

LOL, that worked for us for a while with the monkeys and bananas.

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Registered: 12-22-2003
Tue, 04-08-2008 - 9:53pm
Debbie:

Meez 3D avatar avatars games

Avatar for insideout418
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Tue, 04-08-2008 - 10:25pm

OH NO, AMY!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-28-2006
Wed, 04-09-2008 - 12:18am
I just wanna know what foods to introduce chris regarding money??? LOL
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-25-2003
Fri, 04-11-2008 - 12:53pm
bumping this up for tab

-Paula


visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com

-Paula

visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-23-2008
Wed, 04-23-2008 - 5:25am

Hi Laura,


iVillage Member
Registered: 04-23-2008
Wed, 04-23-2008 - 4:20pm

I cant really help you but i offer my empathy. My son (age 3) Is starting to refuse most foods also. His ot/st says its a sensory issue and to 'work' on it. All i can get him to eat is chips and an occasional hamburger patty (no bun for him!) Yall will be in my prayers and hopefully we both can get our kids to eat!


bw