Eating Difficulties

2BPKIDS

New Member
I just talked to my son's school (he's the 10 year old difficult child) about ensuring he eats all his lunch. We are going to a specialty hospital for "feeding therapy". He will only eat Texas Toast. He used to eat more very specific things- Toast with Peanut Butter, Mac and Cheese, Broth from Chicken Noodle Soup with a Grilled Cheese, but before therapy it was only Texas Toast, and given the choice that is all he would eat. My 2 questions: (1) are any of your difficult child's like this? How do you get good nutrition in them (He hasn't gained any weight not height in the past year)
(2) School gives my major difficulty about him missing 2 hours every Thursday afternoon. Its a 30 min drive to the Hospital. Last week they called to see if it was really necessary that he miss that much school. (This is the school that says he isn't AS but EI.)

Help!
 

smallworld

Moderator
In terms of missing school for his therapy appointment, does your difficult child have an IEP? Can you get the doctor to write a letter to the school with his diagnosis and explain why it is important for him to keep his appointment for feeding therapy?
 

Sara PA

New Member
The Concerta is most likely supressing his appetite. (The stims use to be widely prescribed as "diet pills".) Most people won't eat when they don't have an appetite. Try making sure he has a substantial breakfast before giving the Concerta and make sure food is available to him hen the Concerta wears off in the evening.

As well as supressing appetite, the stims are suspected of interfering with growth.
 

cryingmommy

New Member
My son with Tourettes and Aspergers is also a fussy eater. He likes hamberger helper,KD, spagetti, cinamen rolls lunchables and chips. The suggestion of trying something health and different sparks anxiety fits from him and arguements for days. He got big, but now on Concerta, he eats less. In fact, he hardly eats at all. If you don't make something he likes, he'll just go without, for days if he has to. He stopped going to dads every 2nd weekend because dad tries to make hem eat better. Any suggestions? PS. How do you post a message? I'm new. How do you put your family profile at the end?
 

Marguerite

Active Member
OK, a few issues here. Sara, you're right about the medications being appetite-suppressant but I thought THAT was why growth was also inhibited - is there a separate growth retardant problem too? I'd be interested to know, for my kids too.

Back to diet problems - been there done that, wore out the T-shirt. It can be a HUGE issue. I had a nephew who would eat nothing but Vegemite sandwiches (remember, I'm an Aussie). His mother tried aversion therapy - he was permitted nothing else except Vegemite sandwiches and water. She was sure he would be begging for something, anything, after a few days. After two weeks she gave up. At least without her restrictions he was occasionally eating something else and drinking fruit juice. He grew up with a lot of problems, dyslexia was all that was ever diagnosed, but his son is ADHD and Asperger's.

You say your son has a diagnosis of AS but the school insists its EI - what's that? Also, what's Texas toast?

The Asperger's diagnosis often goes hand in hand with Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) - sensory integration disorder - and this connects to eating problems. Foods may be the wrong colour, the wrong texture, or even touching on the plate. With my nephew I think it was a combination of wanting salty food plus wanting everything always the same. Not wanting change is another Aspie trait. difficult child 3 has his favourite foods, I've had to give him the same things for a long time also. But I'm fortunate - he's been malleable enough to accept enough change so I could give him as balanced a diet as possible. Still, he would rarely eat at school. I would make him eat any leftovers when he came home from school (unless it had gone 'yucky', such as when his water bottle leaked and sent his sandwich soggy). I would then feed him whatever treats I could that were also part of a balanced diet.

We have friends with a wonderful easy child, now a university student, who was never expected to live to reach her teens. She has muscular dystrophy and when diagnosed at age 3 was often too weak to eat. She would fall asleep from exhaustion mid-meal. Her parents dealt with this in several ways - they fed her small meals often, they kept the texture easy to manage (it doesn't have to be pureed, it can be cut up into small bite-sizes) and they also provided 'snacks' of healthy food disguised as junk. For example, popcorn with lots of butter. For an underweight kid, the carbs and fat combined are really tasty.

Back to Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) problems - find out what his particular problem is. For example, difficult child 3 hates creamy textures. He also hates some flavours. We have a rule that he has to taste something new but will not be expected to eat it, even if he likes it. But it's always good to know if you really like something you might otherwise miss out on, especially things other kids enjoy. Sometimes he's very resistant, but we make the 'taste' almost microsopic, the size of a grain of rice. We also remind him that tastes change and he should re-try some foods every few years. As best as you can, try and develop a food repertoire of things you know he will always eat. Based on that list, keep them always available. Just knowing they are there will make it easier for him to be brave and try something new. If he knows he has no choice he may panic and prefer to go hungry than take a risk. It's the opposite of what most people would expect.

Once you have a list, see what is missing that he would still need for a balanced diet. Try and supplement with pills - vitamin supplements are great for this sort of situation. Meanwhile, try and find foods which would fill this gap which you think he might like. For example, fruit? Will he eat fruit? If he likes the flavours but won't bite into fruit (I loved stone fruit but was always afraid of finding grubs) then maybe puree the fruit and freeze it into home-made gelato or ice cream. Maybe put it on a stick. Bananas can be cut in half and a stick shoved in the cut end before putting them on a tray in the deep freeze. Use ripe bananas, they are sweeter. And a good freezer - they keep their colour. Frost free will dry them out so once the'yre frozen seal them. Or bake them into a cake, if he will eat cake.

Basically, lots of good stuff can be disguised as junk food. But if necessary, let him have what he wants and supplement, so at least he learns to appreciate the feel of a full tummy and get some calories into him.

easy child 1 wouldn't eat anything once she reached 13 months old. This went on until she was 18 months. We really worried. All she was getting was a bottle of formula a day, and water. Sometimes she wouldn't even finish her formula. So I began putting a raw egg into the formula so she was at least getting some protein. With difficult child 3, who stuffs himself with bread, we bought a bread machine and make our own. We add raw egg to the bread mix so there's added protein in our bread as well.

Back to Sara's suggestion - will he eat a good breakfast if you feed him before he takes his Concerta? If so, get it into him. And have 'snack foods' available for him for when he's hungry, the sort of snacks that would make a healthy meal anyway. I used to cook a dozen sausages and leave them on a pplate in the fridge. The kids were permitted to help themselves to sausages, tomatoes, carrot sticks for snacks. They were often too tired to eat their dinner when it was dinner time but they'd often eaten the equivalent of dinner by then anyway.

Your problems sound severe but you may need to put social mealtimes aside and just encourage him to eat healthy within his restrictions at times when he's prepared to eat. We still have separate mealtimes to difficult child 3 but increasingly he's learning to eat with us and to eat most of what we eat. And he surprises us with his odd tastes - he's always liked tomatoes, capsicum (red peppers) and Kalamata olives (no others) but avoids most fruits except for green seedless grapes. He now refuses chicken and will only eat one brand of packaged frozen fish. He tries to eat it straight from the freezer but I insist he cook it. And he will only eat sausages of one particular type, from one particular butcher. But we've finally got him eating a healthy diet and he's growing really fast now. What also helps with him - hero worship. If Dad or big broter is eating X, then he is more prepared to try it so he can be like them, boys together.

Sorry this is so long, I hope I've helped at least a little. And I really am fascinated by "texas toast". Fran?

Marg
 

RAZZLYNNE17

New Member
For my son who is on concerta eating used to be a problem, he is still a very picky eater won't eat meat, or chicken. His psychiatrist always said to give him ensure, well i used the walmart brand, or to make him shakes with carnation instant breakfast, he still always gets very hungary around 8:45 everynight and that is when you'll find him with a bowl of cereal. The school system should be understanding of your childs situation, if not i would have a letter from the dr. explainig how important it is.
 

2BPKIDS

New Member
What is Texas Toast? It's a thick cut bread with butter and cheese on top. He'll only eat the store brought kind, its similar to garlic bread. Why he loves it? Who knows?

Matthew has been on Concerta since it 1st came out. We had an appointment at the Docs and the pharmacy didn't have any yet. So probably at least 4-5 years.

We've tried Pediasure (from the Pediatrician), Instant Breakfasts, Ensure - he'll only drink vanilla and only sometimes. If he completely refuses a meal I insist he drink a class of supplement. I did start him on a Teen Vitamin from the health food store and last week the dietican also suggested a calcuim supplement. We're also trying probiotics. He won't eat fruit. But I am getting him to drink 100% juice (mostly juice boxes, but it's juice).

The most help has been from the hospital. They talked to him about poor nutrition (and so did the pediatrican) and he's buying into it! He knows he needs to eat more and more nutriously!
They have a plan and he needs to eat it or no gameboy after school. For lunch he has: Graham cracker with Peanut Butter, 15 Chedder Goldfish (Will only eat plain - doesn't like colored food), Juice Box and just added trix yogurt!
For dinner he has to eat 7 bites of mac and cheese and 3 sliced of cooked carrots and a glass of milk and then i can let him has Texas Toast. I'm hopeful!

I love this site. I finally found other parents who have the same difficulties and challenges we experience. Thanks
 

Sheila

Moderator
Stimulants can interfer with appetite, but it sounds as if difficult child may also have some taste/texture problems (sensory issues) as well. If Sensory Integration Disorder hasn't been ruled out, you may want to locate an Occupational Therapist (OT) certified in Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) testing for evaluation.

School gives my major difficulty about him missing 2 hours every Thursday afternoon. Its a 30 min drive to the Hospital. Last week they called to see if it was really necessary that he miss that much school. (This is the school that says he isn't AS but EI.)
Technically, this type treatment is a "related service" if your child has an IEP.

You may want to consider holding the sd accountable. I suspicion that the only reason it is necessary to take him out of school is that they did not do a thorough evaluation and have not provided appropriate services.
 

SRL

Active Member
My son has had eating problems as well. His diet isn't exactly stellar but over time he has expanded his food choices on his own.

Occupational Therapist (OT) was one of the biggest helps. We started it when he was going into sensory overload due especially to food odors. He's gone from that point where the mere sight and smell of regular food on a plate would send him hysterical to another part of the house to in recent months choosing to add some very new foods to his diet, namely drinkable yogurts, cheese pizza, cheese sauce for bread sticks, and fruit slush. One day he even shocked us and decided to taste a bit of smooth salsa dipped on a cracker. The fruist slush was the first fruits he's tried since his preschool days so it was a huge step.

Occupational Therapist (OT) helped us puthim back in balance in terms of handling different sensory stimuli. We weren't dealing with a weight loss issue so we opted to back off food issues entirely. We didn't make an issue of meal times but fed him when he was hungry and in fact we found he ate much better when it wasn't called breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Often I would simply put a container of food in the area where he was playing or watching TV without a word and walk away. I often would skip the standard dinner plate and using an alternative to avoid the association between "meal" and an immediate negative reaction.

When my son started rejecting food choices, I started tuning into what he wanted and it was nearly always carbos, mild flavored, and often crunchy. He would have moved to a diet of all sweet and crunchy if we had let him. I found he would take a variety of unsweetened cereals so he often had that for lunch and dinner. Other bread types as well is where we went with that.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Ugh. My son is on the spectrum and also won't eat certain things. He seems to only like unhealthy food. He gags at the mere smell of veggies and doesn't like the way fruit "feels and smells." Yes, he has sensory issues up the ole wazoo. But as a result he is overweight and, although he talks about how he doesn't like it, he can't resist the pasta and whole milk (I have all sorts of diet foods around as I watch my own calories). I think maybe the Concerta is making things worse. Depakote kicks up the appetite in a lot of kids. Maybe the Concerta cancels out the appetite enhancing part of Depakote. I wish you luck on this problem. We haven't solved it yet and son still gags at the sights and smells of broccoli and pineapples.
 
O

OTE

Guest
YIKES! Are you sure this eating program understands Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)? That's certainly not the way to feed a Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) kid!

The combo of AS, stimulant and BiPolar (BP) is doing him in. Oddly though, if he's on a mood stabilizer like Depakote that should increase his appetite. Sure, the stimulant decreases it but the combo of the two should be balancing better. Which gets me to the idea that this is more a Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) issue than anything else. And you confirm that in the textures and choices he makes.

I have one ADHD kid, one probably BiPolar (BP) kid and one Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) kid. So I've done most of the eating issue at one point or other. All of mine are growing suitably to their genetics (all adopted). My ADHD kid was on stims for many years and managed to gain weight, height and have normal iron levels. It was just a matter of timing of food and keeping the choices he made balanced by having only healthy food available. My BiPolar (BP) kid eats like a horse and always has. He's a carb addict (typical BiPolar (BP)) with little self-control or impulse control. So when he was using at home at 12 he would come home in the middle of the night having not had dinner and maybe not lunch and eat a half gallon of ice cream. My Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) kid had food issues until maybe K. He still has issues but no more than any other kid.

You're caught somewhere between my 3. You've got a carb addict with medicine causing lack of appetite and then Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) food issues obviously running rampant. Frankly, the first thing I'd do is talk to the psychiatrist about removing the stimulant for a trial. But that's also based on my Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) training which says that what some non-Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) specialists call ADD or ADHD in a Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) kid is really only part of the Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) that can be overcome with appropriate Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) therapy. Then I'd have a real go at that food program that thinks that forcing a Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) kid to eat something he has an aversion to is an appropriate way to feed him!!! YIKES!

Have you narrowed down what he eats to textures, colors, etc? That's the first thing to do.

Also, have you had an oral motor evaluation to be sure there are no physical feeding issues involved here? eg does he have other motor issue/ low muscle tone issues? If so, my first guess would be that there's something going on with oral motor function. Mine had virtually no oral motor function when I finally got him to an oral motor specialist after an offhand remark from a frustrated speech therapist. And this was after 6 months of multiple speech therapists seeing him simultaneously! So there are few people who notice motor function issues much less mild ones that are now fully ingrained.

Obviously we can put together some ideas for you as you've seen above. But we really need a better idea what textures, colors, etc he'll tolerate. And then what kinds of foods you want him to eat.
 

SRL

Active Member
Have they considered the possibility that he avoids colored foods because they dyes cause him to feel worse?
 

Marguerite

Active Member
OTE - spot on!

I also agree about the Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) being the likely problem here, with the connection to Sensory Integration Disorder (SID). Remember, for us in Australia Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) is a sub-set of a number of disorders, notably anything Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD). It's just something else we have to deal with.

Interestingly, we've just come home from a picnic for four families of kids on the spectrum (young teens). Some siblings and most parents were also there, we each brought along our own food and pooled it. It was fascinating to watch what everybody chose to eat. Remember, these are kids who have mostly worked through their Sensory Integration Disorder (SID)/dietary issues but not completely. We could also see some of it in other family members. I was very proud of difficult child 3 - he managed to eat two pieces of chocolate cake with creamy icing. Mind you, I did make a point of telling him it wasn't chocolate cream, it was chocolate ganache.
One family brought peanut butter, all their son would eat was peanut butter on a bread roll. He was hungry early and HAD to eat. We tried to feed the kids with us and were mostly successful, although difficult child 3 was late, he was helping a family make sand balls - no common language! He finally washed up and came to the table, ate mostly bread with his favourite salad things. We had an extremely varied spread but it was mostly the adults who shared, the kids zeroed in on their own familiar foods. They happily borrowed cups, plates and knives but food - it had to be familiar. Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) is a huge issue for these kids.

I remember as a child (I suspect there are some Aspie traits in me as well) being a fussy eater. back then there was less variety. I hated foods mixed in together and my mother would always try to encourage me to eat by cutting a piece of meat and pushing potato and peas onto it. Syhe would cook fish and try to entice me to eat by squeezing lemon on it. I was away at a school excursion and we were fed fish - I tried it without lemon (it was that or starve) and discovered I really enjoyed it.
The point is, because I know how it felt not being able to have choice with foods I really was AFRAID of, I've always tried to give my kids choice. Then when I got 'faddy' kids (because of the Sensory Integration Disorder (SID), especially in the boys) I was very glad of modern conveniences and wider choices in foods to be able to help them. Where my mother would boil carrots (which I hated) to feed ten people, I serve some carrots boiled, some raw. The kids all prefer them raw. It's a texture thing. They're still eating carrots.

With Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) kids we often have to break the social and dietary rules of what is considered acceptable. At the same time, when we know they feel calm and relaxed is a good time to encourage them to try something new. Tastes at shopping centre demonstrations are good - the kid knows you couldn't have set it up. You taste too, you and the child are on equal terms with the new experience. And from the sound of it, your son is developing a wider range of possible foods. He does sound like he's covering a lot of food groups, although there are still gaps.

Looking at what he is prepared to accept, it seems to me that he is preferring fairly bland tastes. This could also possibly connect to his food sensitivites (if there are any). Kids with food sensitivies will either crave what they should't have, or avoid it because it makes them feel bad. Stronger flavours are associated with naturally-occurring salicylates, a common allergen.

difficult child 3 was on a special low-allergy diet 18 months ago (it was purgatory). He was frustrated by the lack of variety but when it was explained to him he was supportive, even if annoyed by it. Your son sounds like he is compliant but simply finds a lot of food choices too unacceptable. difficult child 3's diet was extremely limited and definitely not balanced or sufficient. He lost a lot of weight before the dieticians finally accepted that he doesn't have food sensitivity problems causing his symptoms.

Your son likes vanilla (low salicylate). Peanuts are higher in salicylate, cashews are lower. Cashew butter can be made in a blender and is delicious and nutritious. it may be yet another taste to try him with.
Colour seems to matter to him. Also, the yellower biscuits may also have a stronger flavour. The texas toast (thanks for the info, it sounds like what they serve in Sizzler restaurants over here, we've got our own version of the recipe too) could actually be quite nutritious. Will he eat home-made texas toast or does it HAVE to be the packet stuff? If he'll eat the home-made, you might be able to make your own egg- or milk-enriched bread as a base. What sort of cheese is it? Bland like mozzarella, or strong like parmesan?

Have you read "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon? It's a novel, told in the first person by a main character who has Asperger's Syndrome and serious food Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) issues. It's a brilliant book, I enjoyed it purely for entertainment, but it's also very enlightening on what it is like from the Aspie's viewpoint. The character in the book doesn't like food to be touching, won't eat brown food (so carries a bottle of red food colouring) and also prefers vanilla (chocolate is brown!) although strawberry (it's red - that's good) is acceptable. He also doesn't like yellow things.

The juice is good - will he try it frozen? It's great especially in summer. What about juice with pureed fruit in it? I know difficult child 3 won't try that, but my other kids will. A vanilla banana smoothie using the supplement? There's a lot of vitamins and nutrition in that if he will eat bananas or drink something with that thick texture.

I agree with the suggestion to check if he has issues with swallowing. A speech pathologist is the person for that and maybe an assessment on language issues as well could be useful.

Have a look at www.childbrain.com and do their informal online test. You can print the results and take it to his specialists for their opinion.

Will he eat rice? What about risotto? Cooking rice in stock instead of water can increase the protein content and still satisfy his carb craving. It can also be kept fairly bland for him. I cook risotto for my kids but I'm not allowed to put anything extra in it other than the initial bit of onion, and the chicken stock. No pieces of meat, no vegetables, nothing. But it's a great winter meal. They will let me put cheese in it right at the end. Not good if you're trying to LOSE weight, but filling and nourishing. What about pasta? Gnocchi? difficult child 3 loves home-made gnocchi (mashed potato, egg, flour - boiled as thimble-sized dumplings until they float then skimmed out and served with garlic butter) but easy child 2/difficult child 2 hates it (HER issues with Sensory Integration Disorder (SID)!). Home-made pasta & gnocchi are a great way to sneak in extra protein - I make my pasta with whole eggs and flour, no added water.

I dread the day when difficult child 3's favourite brand of frozen fish is no longer available. I've had to trawl the shops sometimes when it's been off the shelves, I stock up when I find it but when I have more in the freezer, he eats it faster.

You're already doing a lot of good stuff.

Marg
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
I spent over a month in NICU as they call it today being tube fed because I had no sucking reflex. I also what we call today: reflux.

My mother was sent home with a tiny infant, special baby formula, and instructions to feed me every two hours.

My mother said that I used to wear myself out during feedings and fall asleep.

I had the food issue thing big time. I also was blessed with a mother who had promised herself that no matter what *her* children were not going to sit all night at table, or be fed the same meal over and over again(I mean THE SAME and this before refrigeration).

Not only that, she understood the difference of 'tastes' to different people. She also could tell the difference between 'food wariness' and 'gagginess' the later our household term for Sensory Integration Disorder (SID), by the way. If we were just wary we had to take a tiny taste. If we didn't like it, fine. She'd try gain in a few months or years.

If dinner didn't pass inspection, well...tuna's in the fridge along with the miracle whip, there's some hardboiled eggs there too, and peanut butter in the cabinet. Make yourself a sandwhich and have some salad or whatever.

Due to our family being a combination of ethnicities from Russia and the Baltics, we ate a lot of strongly flavored foods from the beginning. I can vouch for Marg on the kalamatas. Love them. In fact, the olives I don't like are the canned black ones.
 
O

OTE

Guest
Marg, I thought of that book too. LOL Though I'm not sure it really explains the issues, only acknowledges them. And certainly doesn't offer any suggestions on remediation, that father just accepted it as fact which I personally don't think is the right approach with a really food limited kid.

About the speech therapists... yes, it's in that field sometimes but I have to say that to get the speech therapy license and MS they don't even have to take that course much less become good with it. I had 2 speech therapists seeing my kid 3 or 4 times a week for 6 mo before only one of them thought of it. And that was only because she had recently been to a seminar on it. Mind you, she had no idea if my child had a problem just suggested that I take him to Sarah Rosenfeld Johnson. So I would definitely not use just a general "speech therapist" but an oral motor specialist.

Just to you understand what the 2 speech therapists missed... my child could not bite except to put his front top and bottom teeth together. He couldn't move his tongue into the position he wanted it for speech purposes. And couldn't even move food from side to side with his tongur... try chewing with your front teeth only and not using your tongue! Sure, he only wanted smooth food but even then it had to be in teeny bits because he couldn't mush it up before swallowing. And my spoonfuls didn't do it. The only feeding mechanism he had was sucking which is why he only got nutrition from formula until he was about 2 1/2. And the two speech therapists missed this!

Other than Sarah Rosenfeld Johnson the only oral motor specialists I've ever seen were in a place called "Children's Specialized Hospital" where they treated multiply physically handicapped kids, the kind with ventilators, wheelchairs, feeding tubes, etc. They did real oral motor therapy with these kids. I understand it's also done in nursing homes and rehab places where there are stroke victims who lose oral motor function.

Here's some articles

http://www.talktools.net/cgi-bin/talktoo.../UserTemplate/8

This is the national professional organization for speech therapists. This gives you some ideas of all the issues they treat and there's not really a category here for developmental oral motor. Just to give you some ideas of all the sub specialties in speech therapy.

http://www.asha.org/public/speech/
 

Marguerite

Active Member
difficult child 3's speech pathologist explained it to me, plus I used to work for a medical journal and interviewed some speech pathologists about how much more they do than speech therapists, or speech teachers. Maybe the disticntion is mostly an Aussie one, but for us - speech teachers will teach a child to declaim well and project his/her voice. They're often called speech and drama teachers. Speech therapists can assess language problems, some communication problems and prescribe some treatments. A Speech and drama teacher can actually help implement these strategies (cheaper) but they can't diagnose or prescribe therapy.
A speech pathologist is almost a doctor iin terms of the qlaiifications they need; more, in a lot of cases. They do even more than speech therapists, working with not only language but the entire functioning of the voice, the mouth, breathing and swallowing. I was surprised at their involvement in nursing homes with dieticians, helping stroke patients, for example, to find ways to deal with post-stroke swallowing problems.
I agree with OTE - go to the best. Not only is it a good idea to get an expert to double-check your child's language capability (regardless of how clear his speech is, language problems can be subtle) but such a professional can also help with Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) issues - 'mouth-feel' of food. Working hand in hand with a dietician would be ideal and, frankly, SHOULd be happening if tey are thinking laterally.

OTE, I agree with you about the father in "Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time". But one thing about the characters - they were real and fallible, not the perfect parents etc. I suspect that if Christopher had been my child I too might have given in on a lot of his Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)/Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) issues. Maybe not in the same way, but we never know. What I loved about the book was how Christopher pushes himself to do what he feels he must do, to survive, and comes through stronger as a result. You can see he's been over-protected, perhaps allowed to indulge his limitations and at the end his own efforts have changed his life for the better. You can see the dark side of parenting Aspie/PD kids, but you also see the potential for huge rewards and joy. It's not a guidebook for management, purely an enjoyable way to get a bird's eye view on how a person with Asperger's might cope, and what the world can seem like for them. I must admit, a lot of it was too close to home for me and I did cry in places.

Back to the speech pathologists - ask about their qualifications and experience, find out if they have ever dealt with swallowing/dietary problems before, as well as possible subtle language issues.

Marg
 

2BPKIDS

New Member
Surprisingly, I picked up that very book from the library last Tuesday. It was fascinating. I'm glad my son's difficulties aren't that severe. It's interesting to get into the mind of an aspie.

We did do a swallow test. and They checked the oral motor ability and all was fine. It just seems to be the problem with tastes and textures. Actually he is buying into the fact that he needs better nuturition. Yesterday, he complained that the peanut butter/on graham crackers tasted like broccoli. Yuck! I don't think I've every tried to get him to eat broccoli. He's glad to eat what the hospital says or I'll take the gameboy away.

Hope he eats his lunch today. (I asked the school to help supervise this)
 

susanc

New Member
My 13YO was a great eater up through third or fourth grade. He ate lots of fruits and vegetables, but never really liked meat which was okay with me. He said it took too long to chew.

But now he only eats starches and milk. He lives on pasta and cereal. The pediatrician said not to sweat it. And since there are so many other battles, we have learned to just shut up about his diet. Besides, he is so oppositional that if he knows his diet bothers me, he will dig his feet in even deeper.
 
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