Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi my 16 year old daughter was diagnosed with high functioning autism in August 2017. She has never drunk much and says she never experiences thirst. This resulted in her being hospitalised this weekend for rehydration. Even though my daughter is very intelligent I can't get her to believe that she needs to drink more. Even though she ended up in hospital she had no physical shmptoms of dehydration, it was a blood test that highlighted it. As far as my daughter is concerned no physical symptoms = not important. Has anyone else any experience of no sensation of thirst with their ASC CHILD/adult? Thank you.
I have a demand avoidant profile flavoured autism... I had a bad period years ago where drinking anything other than coffee or beer was a Demand, and had severe dehydration issues (not quite hospitalised though). It also gave me the most horrendous constipation.
To work around the demand aspect, I go to extreme lengths to make it as easy as possible. Like many autists I like routine & habit, so the trick it is remove all the little excuses my ND brain throws up so that the habit has a chance to form.
To this end I bought loads of water bottles with bite valves - so they don't spill when I inevitably knock them over, and there is no lid to faff around with when drinking.
I keep several on my desk (where I spend most of my day), some by the bed, in the lounge room, car etc. I found my hand just reaches for them now without me thinking about it. Of course, I had to train myself to keep the damned things filled up... but I have a system/habit for that now.
The other thing that increased my fluid intake was sparkling water - I feel like I'm drinking "upgraded" water, so it feels luxurious! If I really want to push the boat out I add squash (I like Robinsons Pink grapefruit). It's quite cheap compared to fizzy drinks in tins, and there are many no-added-sugar squashes out there.
It's really interesting that you mention sparkling water. Flavoured sparkling water, along with Robinson's peach squash are the only 2 drinks I can get my daughter to drink (other than a very rare turmeric and star anise herbal tea). She's now 20 and doesn't really drink enough but she isn't dehydrated and does recognise now when she needs to drink as she starts to get headache.