Anorexia

Hi, I have issues with eating and digestion too, which are most likely autism related, though I do not have anorexia nervosa. I can only recommend my dietitian- She has experience with autistic patients and is one of the most caring and sensitive people I know: home | dalia weinreb (dalianutrition.com). She was the person to realise that I am autistic and thanks to her I am now in the process of diagnosis. 

She probably saved my life as I unintentionally ended up very underweight and have had really struggled with mental health. She has been a huge source of support to me, not only in terms of nutrition, but also emotionally and she has encouraged me to seek more support and helped me to find it. 

The problem is that the sessions with her are very expensive. I was lucky that my university helped pay for sessions as I was in a bad state and it was taking very long to receive support through the NHS. However if this would be an option for you, I can only recommend her. 

Unfortunately I think a lot of professionals do not have much experience with autism but I think it is highly relevant to eating issues: I did quite a lot of reading about this recently, when I became aware of my own autism and there is a lot of literature about the link between eating disorders and autism and how conventional eating disorder treatments are not always best suited to the needs of autistic patients. Love for routines and having things the same, sensory sensitivities, high levels of anxiety etc etc. can be so relevant.  If you want I can find some of the references for you? I know that for me my autism is also very relevant to my eating problems.

Have you mentioned your concerns to the treatment team? I really hope your son gets the right support and also some help to deal with the anxiety- I'm sorry that I can't offer more help. 

Hi, I have issues with eating and digestion too, which are most likely autism related, though I do not have anorexia nervosa. I can only recommend my dietitian- She has experience with autistic patients and is one of the most caring and sensitive people I know: home | dalia weinreb (dalianutrition.com). She was the person to realise that I am autistic and thanks to her I am now in the process of diagnosis. 

She probably saved my life as I unintentionally ended up very underweight and have had really struggled with mental health. She has been a huge source of support to me, not only in terms of nutrition, but also emotionally and she has encouraged me to seek more support and helped me to find it. 

The problem is that the sessions with her are very expensive. I was lucky that my university helped pay for sessions as I was in a bad state and it was taking very long to receive support through the NHS. However if this would be an option for you, I can only recommend her. 

Unfortunately I think a lot of professionals do not have much experience with autism but I think it is highly relevant to eating issues: I did quite a lot of reading about this recently, when I became aware of my own autism and there is a lot of literature about the link between eating disorders and autism and how conventional eating disorder treatments are not always best suited to the needs of autistic patients. Love for routines and having things the same, sensory sensitivities, high levels of anxiety etc etc. can be so relevant.  If you want I can find some of the references for you? I know that for me my autism is also very relevant to my eating problems.

Have you mentioned your concerns to the treatment team? I really hope your son gets the right support and also some help to deal with the anxiety- I'm sorry that I can't offer more help. 

Thanks for the reply!

I really recommend you looking at the Maudsley resources (link in my first post) – cutting edge in terms of treatment of anorexia in patients with autism.