Discussion - what does your child / do your children eat?

[Dolphinius]

For those parents here with children who are on the autistic spectrum
(or have some other neurological condition).

What is in your childrens' diet? If you can describe it in as much
detail as you can (like a typical week), then maybe I (or others here)
may have some thoughts based on our own experiences that might be
helpful.

By 'describing', that includes specifying quite clearly what food or
drink that they consume is processed.

Dolphinius
(Male, age 40 +/- a few months, UK, self-diagnosed AS)

[Zeke Zebedee]

It is rumoured that the Autist Artist once known as the L person, will be
exhibiting a couple of paintings in Hong Kong later this year.

Eke it's Zeke

[Zeke Zebedee]

WTF has this to do with eating ??!!!!

Eke it's Zeke it was.

Post by Zeke Zebedee
It is rumoured that the Autist Artist once known as the L person, will be
exhibiting a couple of paintings in Hong Kong later this year.
Eke it's Zeke

[Aquarian Monkey]

Post by Zeke Zebedee
It is rumoured that the Autist Artist once known as the L person, will be
exhibiting a couple of paintings in Hong Kong later this year.
Eke it's Zeke

That is awesome!

[Zeke Zebedee]

My inner child likes crunchy stuff, potato crisps in particular. 's tactile
innit.

Of a Sunday, the young Zeke was won't to consume a glass or two of Cider
with the family, it's a habit like the crisps that has endured.

Eke it's Zekalicious

Post by Dolphinius
For those parents here with children who are on the autistic spectrum
(or have some other neurological condition).
What is in your childrens' diet? If you can describe it in as much
detail as you can (like a typical week), then maybe I (or others here)
may have some thoughts based on our own experiences that might be
helpful.
By 'describing', that includes specifying quite clearly what food or
drink that they consume is processed.
Dolphinius
(Male, age 40 +/- a few months, UK, self-diagnosed AS)

[Aquarian Monkey]

Post by Dolphinius
For those parents here with children who are on the autistic spectrum
(or have some other neurological condition).
What is in your childrens' diet? If you can describe it in as much
detail as you can (like a typical week), then maybe I (or others here)
may have some thoughts based on our own experiences that might be
helpful.
By 'describing', that includes specifying quite clearly what food or
drink that they consume is processed.
Dolphinius
(Male, age 40 +/- a few months, UK, self-diagnosed AS)

I wrote a really huge response to this and it appears that it has been lost to the depths of cyber space.

Boo.

I listed every single food D will eat.

No energy to do it again tonight. Maybe later.

[Bob Badour]

Post by Aquarian Monkey

Post by Dolphinius
For those parents here with children who are on the autistic spectrum
(or have some other neurological condition).
What is in your childrens' diet? If you can describe it in as much
detail as you can (like a typical week), then maybe I (or others here)
may have some thoughts based on our own experiences that might be
helpful.
By 'describing', that includes specifying quite clearly what food or
drink that they consume is processed.
Dolphinius
(Male, age 40 +/- a few months, UK, self-diagnosed AS)

I wrote a really huge response to this and it appears that it has been lost to the depths of cyber space.
Boo.
I listed every single food D will eat.
No energy to do it again tonight. Maybe later.

It's not lost. I saw it so it's out there somewhere.

[Nick Cramer]

Post by Aquarian Monkey

Post by Dolphinius
For those parents here with children who are on the autistic spectrum
(or have some other neurological condition).
What is in your childrens' diet? If you can describe it in as much
detail as you can (like a typical week), then maybe I (or others here)
may have some thoughts based on our own experiences that might be
helpful.
By 'describing', that includes specifying quite clearly what food or
drink that they consume is processed.
Dolphinius
(Male, age 40 +/- a few months, UK, self-diagnosed AS)

I wrote a really huge response to this and it appears that it has been
lost to the depths of cyber space.
Boo.
I listed every single food D will eat.
No energy to do it again tonight. Maybe later.

Showed up here fine.

[Aquarian Monkey]

Post by Dolphinius
For those parents here with children who are on the autistic spectrum
(or have some other neurological condition).
What is in your childrens' diet? If you can describe it in as much
detail as you can (like a typical week), then maybe I (or others here)
may have some thoughts based on our own experiences that might be
helpful.
By 'describing', that includes specifying quite clearly what food or
drink that they consume is processed.
Dolphinius
(Male, age 40 +/- a few months, UK, self-diagnosed AS)

D will not eat anything that looks "different" and she has a very keen sense of smell, so sometimes she cannot eat something because she thinks it stinks. If there are spots of any kind on it, like from herbs or spices, she will not eat it. Sometimes she will not eat things that are broken.

Here is what she eats:

Waffles with nutella
A couple of kinds of cereal, with almond milk or dry
Poptarts (an American pastry that you put in the toaster that is quite lacking in nutritional value), but only two flavors of it
Chicken nuggets (but not all brands)
French fries (but only if they are crunchy)
Pizza, but she is exceptionally picky and will refuse more kinds than she will eat
Peanutbutter sandwiches
Bread with butter
Ramen noodles
Hot dogs in a bun, but none of the dog can be hanging out
Bologna sandwiches, but none of the bologna can be hanging out
Baked chicken
white rice
a variety of crackers
a variety of cookies
cottage cheese (but only one brand)
string cheese (mozarella) but only one brand
ice cream
cheese cake
grapes
strawberries
apples without the peel
Corn (on and off the cob)
She will chew gum and eat lollipops
she likes some kinds of candy
bagels with cream cheese
A dish I make that is a pastry stuffed with a chicken and cream cheese mixture
She will eat pasta, but only spaghetti--no other shape--and only with butter and garlic salt on it.

I do think that is quite literally everything she will eat. You will notice the only thing resembling a vegetable she will eat is corn. She used to eat broccoli, but one day it made her gag and that was the end of that. Recently, she has stopped eating muffins of any kind and yogurt, both of which she used to like. I notice in typing this list out that she eats a WAY larger variety of food than she used to, but it is still not a very healthy diet at all. She doesn't eat much, really, but she is pretty "average" as far as her size goes and she does not appear sickly. She seems "thin" but to be honest, I think it is only because American kids tend to be a bit overweight as a whole these days.

She shows physiological signs of fear when confronted with new food. If I push it too far, I get a panic reaction from her. And she often ends up gagging. She actually states "I am scared" when she is confronted with new food, though she will, on occasion, try something she hasn't had before. Usually that is due to peer modeling at school.

[toto]

On Sun, 24 Jun 2012 18:08:50 -0700 (PDT), Aquarian Monkey

Post by Aquarian Monkey

Post by Dolphinius
For those parents here with children who are on the autistic spectrum
(or have some other neurological condition).
What is in your childrens' diet? If you can describe it in as much
detail as you can (like a typical week), then maybe I (or others here)
may have some thoughts based on our own experiences that might be
helpful.
By 'describing', that includes specifying quite clearly what food or
drink that they consume is processed.
Dolphinius
(Male, age 40 +/- a few months, UK, self-diagnosed AS)

D will not eat anything that looks "different" and she has a very keen sense of smell,
so sometimes she cannot eat something because she thinks it stinks. If there are
spots of any kind on it, like from herbs or spices, she will not eat it. Sometimes she
will not eat things that are broken.
Waffles with nutella
A couple of kinds of cereal, with almond milk or dry
Poptarts (an American pastry that you put in the toaster that is quite lacking in
nutritional value), but only two flavors of it
Chicken nuggets (but not all brands)
French fries (but only if they are crunchy)
Pizza, but she is exceptionally picky and will refuse more kinds than she will eat
Peanutbutter sandwiches
Bread with butter
Ramen noodles
Hot dogs in a bun, but none of the dog can be hanging out
Bologna sandwiches, but none of the bologna can be hanging out
Baked chicken
white rice
a variety of crackers
a variety of cookies
cottage cheese (but only one brand)
string cheese (mozarella) but only one brand
ice cream
cheese cake
grapes
strawberries
apples without the peel
Corn (on and off the cob)
She will chew gum and eat lollipops
she likes some kinds of candy
bagels with cream cheese
A dish I make that is a pastry stuffed with a chicken and cream cheese mixture
She will eat pasta, but only spaghetti--no other shape--and only with butter and garlic salt on it.
I do think that is quite literally everything she will eat. You will notice the only thing resembling
a vegetable she will eat is corn. She used to eat broccoli, but one day it made her gag and
that was the end of that. Recently, she has stopped eating muffins of any kind and yogurt,
both of which she used to like. I notice in typing this list out that she eats a WAY larger variety
of food than she used to, but it is still not a very healthy diet at all. She doesn't eat much,
really, but she is pretty "average" as far as her size goes and she does not appear sickly.
She seems "thin" but to be honest, I think it is only because American kids tend to be a bit
overweight as a whole these days.
She shows physiological signs of fear when confronted with new food. If I push it too far,
I get a panic reaction from her. And she often ends up gagging. She actually states "I am
scared" when she is confronted with new food, though she will, on occasion, try something
she hasn't had before. Usually that is due to peer modeling at school.

Your word wrap is messed up for me, so I fixed that.

Dgs eats (depending on the day and his whims):

Chicken nuggets
Lunchables (not great nutrition, but something that can be packed for
school lunches easily) - they include a piece of some kind of lunch
meat, some crackers, a piece of cheese.
bananas
sometimes will eat grapes, but only purple ones, not green ones
peanut butter and crackers
ritz cheese crackers, but only the ones that come in a particular box
pizza (cheese only)
nutter butters (crackers with peanut butter)
popcorn
a few kinds of candy (especially sour kinds)
he drinks water and a little milk (he used to drink a lot of milk
until we got rid of his bottles)

Dgd eats

Chicken nuggets
Hot dogs (very occasionally)
Pizza (cheese only)
cheese sticks (not often)
Hummus (this is a recent addition to her diet)
Pancakes (we make these special with veggies usually spinach added to
them)
Hershey bars (this is probably her only candy and she is addicted to
it)
she only drinks chocolate milk and water

[d***@fsmail.net]

Post by Aquarian Monkey
D will not eat anything that looks "different" and she has a very keen sense of smell, so sometimes she cannot eat something because she thinks it stinks. If there are spots of any kind on it, like from herbs or spices, she will not eat it. Sometimes she will not eat things that are broken.

I would not eat crumpets when I was young. I didn't mind the taste, but I hated the sight of the very small holes. This is the sort of thing I mean:

Loading Image...

I also would not eat Savoy cabbage. I didn't mind the taste, but hated the crinkly look. See:

Loading Image...

Post by Aquarian Monkey
Waffles with nutella
A couple of kinds of cereal, with almond milk or dry
Poptarts (an American pastry that you put in the toaster that is quite lacking in nutritional value), but only two flavors of it
Chicken nuggets (but not all brands)
French fries (but only if they are crunchy)
Pizza, but she is exceptionally picky and will refuse more kinds than she will eat
Peanutbutter sandwiches
Bread with butter
Ramen noodles
Hot dogs in a bun, but none of the dog can be hanging out
Bologna sandwiches, but none of the bologna can be hanging out
Baked chicken
white rice
a variety of crackers
a variety of cookies
cottage cheese (but only one brand)
string cheese (mozarella) but only one brand
ice cream
cheese cake
grapes
strawberries
apples without the peel
Corn (on and off the cob)
She will chew gum and eat lollipops
she likes some kinds of candy
bagels with cream cheese
A dish I make that is a pastry stuffed with a chicken and cream cheese mixture
She will eat pasta, but only spaghetti--no other shape--and only with butter and garlic salt on it.

This list worries me. There is masses of wheat and gluten.

I guess that you are constrained to a large extent by what she will accept, but my theory is that for autistics some types of food are addicitive - they are bad for you, but you like to eat them. If you can break the habit then you start to progress.

Have you tried buying gluten free bread (and other foods) and seeing if you can get away with that as a substitute?

Post by Aquarian Monkey
I do think that is quite literally everything she will eat. You will notice the only thing resembling a vegetable she will eat is corn.

Yes, although grapes, strawberries and apples are good.

Maybe she is a bit young for this to work, but my diet improved once I was able to read about what was good and bad for you. I forced myself to eat some foods I didn't like because they had strong nutritional benefits. I also check the ingredients for almost everything I buy. There are so many foods marketed as health foods which are not.

For example, this looks a relatively healthy bar based on the name and packaging, but look at the ingredients (further down the article):
http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/behind_the_label/269114/behind_the_label_kelloggs_nutrigrain_soft_bake_bars.html

Nowadays I only eat bars like these:
http://www.naturalbalancefoods.co.uk/store/nakd-nudie-bars/default.aspx

A typical ingredient list for one of these is simply:
Dates (48%), Almonds (32%), Pecans (18%), Ginger, Cloves & Cinnamon

Compare the difference!

Dolphinius
(Male, age 40 +/- a few months, UK, self-diagnosed AS)

[Aquarian Monkey]

Post by d***@fsmail.net
This list worries me. There is masses of wheat and gluten.
I guess that you are constrained to a large extent by what she will accept, but my theory is that for autistics some types of food are addicitive - they are bad for you, but you like to eat them. If you can break the habit then you start to progress.

I agree with you in some cases. D was casein free for 18 months and gluten free for 9 months. We noticed huge changes when we removed casein from her diet, but nothing much happened when we removed gluten and I was ridiculously strict with it...researched gluten-free diets like mad and made most of her food from scratch (I know more about gluten-free flours than I ever wanted to know)...she just didn't seem to respond to GF, so I think for her, gluten was/is not a factor. I slowly phased casein back into her diet and when I didn't notice any ill effects, I concluded that whatever caused her to react negatively to casein before (I suspect a immature, leaky gut system...*I* couldn't have any milk products when I was nursing her or she'd react) had improved. She still self-limits casein to an extent though. I've always thought maybe she can "feel" when she shouldn't have any.

Post by d***@fsmail.net
Maybe she is a bit young for this to work, but my diet improved once I was able to read about what was good and bad for you.

They do really good health education at her school and I have seen some benefits. It's how she started to eat baked chicken regularly. I also think that someone in the lunch room must repeatedly tell her "It doesn't matter how food looks, it matters how it tastes" because sometimes I hear her tell herself this when she has non-preferred food on her plate.

R is starting to learn to read nutrition labels. I think that is great, and he has a weight problem so it is good that he is showing an interest. It's also awesome that he has noticed girls, because he started eating salads because the girls do! LOL!

Have you ever tried these? YUM! http://www.larabar.com/products/larabar

[d***@fsmail.net]

Post by Aquarian Monkey
I agree with you in some cases. D was casein free for 18 months and gluten free for 9 months. We noticed huge changes when we removed casein from her diet, but nothing much happened when we removed gluten and I was ridiculously strict with it...researched gluten-free diets like mad and made most of her food from scratch (I know more about gluten-free flours than I ever wanted to know)...she just didn't seem to respond to GF, so I think for her, gluten was/is not a factor. I slowly phased casein back into her diet and when I didn't notice any ill effects, I concluded that whatever caused her to react negatively to casein before (I suspect a immature, leaky gut system...*I* couldn't have any milk products when I was nursing her or she'd react) had improved. She still self-limits casein to an extent though. I've always thought maybe she can "feel" when she shouldn't have any.

For me gluten has very subtle effects. To some extent I can mask behaviour which come on when I eat food with gluten, but it is harder.

However, I guess that D would not mask at her age so what you observe is probably fairly reliable.

Now here is something important that has occurred to me since I first posted on this thread. Thinking back, my young self would have totally rejected the advice I give now. I think when you are young you are more sensitive to various tastes. When I was young I tended to like fairly bland food (although I ate a much wider range of foods than D). I appreciate stronger tastes as I get older. So there may be little you can do about some things.

One good thing my parents did was to put pressure on me to eat very small samples of things which were healthy but which I didn't like. I initially wouldn't eat peas, but they set me a target of eating just a few peas, then gradually extended it. It wasn't long before I really liked them.

Post by Aquarian Monkey
They do really good health education at her school and I have seen some benefits. It's how she started to eat baked chicken regularly. I also think that someone in the lunch room must repeatedly tell her "It doesn't matter how food looks, it matters how it tastes" because sometimes I hear her tell herself this when she has non-preferred food on her plate.
R is starting to learn to read nutrition labels. I think that is great, and he has a weight problem so it is good that he is showing an interest. It's also awesome that he has noticed girls, because he started eating salads because the girls do! LOL!

My parents bought a book listing all the E-number additives (they're probably called something different in the United States) and described what they were. I was interested to find that some were natural and others were chemicals which might be dangerous to health. It started me off to try to avoid such additives. Now I read the ingredients on almost everything I buy.

Post by Aquarian Monkey
Have you ever tried these? YUM! http://www.larabar.com/products/larabar

They look like the sort of bars I would eat.

Dolphinius
(Male, age 40 +/- a few months, UK, self-diagnosed AS)

[Aquarian Monkey]

Post by d***@fsmail.net
One good thing my parents did was to put pressure on me to eat very small samples of things which were healthy but which I didn't like. I initially wouldn't eat peas, but they set me a target of eating just a few peas, then gradually extended it. It wasn't long before I really liked them.

She is required to "lick" most everything at this point. And if it is something that she is familiar with, she is usually required to try a small bite. The good news is that she is a fairly rational child, so she can think of food she used to not like and now likes, so she is aware that one day she might like the food she now dislikes. I can often use that to coax her into trying it without too much fuss.

For her, I think if I could somehow move her away from this fear, she'd eat a lot more food. I don't even know why she has the fear as I have never been one to *force* her to eat anything. Well, that's not quite true...I have "forced" her to eat food that she tolerates before getting a highly preferred food. But I have never never made her eat something she is uncomfortable with beyond a lick or a small bite.