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I have a 3 year old who was diagnosed at 2 with autism. He goes to school 4 days a week and is speech is much improved , but is eating is terrible. My son can say his ABC's backwards but won't feed himself. My 2 year old girl has been feeding herself since 1. He also is very picky, if he likes it today he hates it tomorrow he throws a fit over every meal unless it's fruit or chicken nuggets from Wendy's. He doesnt like McDonald's same with everything brand matters. He won't even try things he gags a few inches from his mouth. Please give me some idea's on how to get him to eat himself. I have tried if he doesnt do it himself than he won't eat, but he likes that he will go weeks and barely eat anything and lose up to 3 pounds then he may start eating but only cause I give in and feed him I mean I can't let him get dehydrated and lose weight to make a point that he won't understand. any advice will help thanks ↓
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| Name: eedulin | Date: May 17th, 2008 4:40 AM |
| I have the same problem with my son, I'm thinking of putting both of my sons on the gfcf diet so I bought a kid friendly cookbook. Under helpful hints it said to break the no TV rule, let the child watch TV while eating and it will put his focus on that and won't really notice what he's eating. I tried it this week and Day 1 went well, Day 2 not so much, but Days 3, 4, & 5 have worked fairly well. It's worth a shot anyway. ↑ |
| Name: lostboy | Date: May 18th, 2008 4:54 AM |
| Have you tried cutting the Wendy's chicken nuggets up and adding a different kind and rotating them? Also, Costco has chicken nuggets that are shaped like dinosaurs, he might like that. I do not know how much you know so please don't take offense. Children with autism often have a strong sense of smell. He may gag because of the smell. You can also try other foods that have the same texture. On the positive side, at lease he is eating chicken and fruit. A lot of the children I work with only eat chips and fruit snacks. ↑ |
| Name: Cadesmom | Date: May 24th, 2008 8:18 PM |
| Hi there. don't try and make a point. Autistic kids have textue issues, smell issues, taste sensitivities and lot of other issues as you well know. Give him what he likes to eat, but always try and introduce other foods along with the ones he likes. He'll just eat what he wants for as long as he wants......then one day, as he matures and his tastes change and his issuses lessen, he just might start to try new things. Punishment doesn't work with these kids. They are not trying to be defient, they honestly can't help the way they are. He won't starve, believe me, he won't. I have been through the same thing with my son. I made sure that even though he wasn't eating hardly anything except what he liked, that there was always other food items on the table. I didn't push it. I didn't even offer it. It was just there for him to see and for him to see us eating. Eventually as he got older, he would help himself to something and try it. He sometimes liked it and sometimes didn't. But do yo know what? Now he is 15 and eats just about everything everyone else does. The days of being nervous to go to restaurants or peoples homes for dinner are over. He's explored other foods because we didn't force him and he tried them on his own, when his senses were ready to deal with new tastes and textures and smells. Relax, it gets better with time. ↑ |
| Name: I know | Date: Jun 1st, 2008 5:45 PM |
| I have also found that letting them watch tv changes the focus and they eat this way as my son is terrible. We still feed him now and he is 6! He just can't keep the focus for long enough. If you let him he would eat fish fingers, beans and chips EVERY day. We found it a challenge but having the tv on seemed to help as he didn't notice what he was eating. Work with what he does like and add a little of what he hasn't had before as this way there's no confrontation. To be honest tryin to make a point on this would probably be lost so just add other options and don't make a fuss if he doesn't have any of the optional food. ↑ |
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