Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi,
I am new to this forum. My daughter is 4 years old and was diagnosed with autism in July 2011.
She has an extreemly restricted diet and up to 3 weeks ago would only eat Petits Filous Yogurts and Biscuits (Heinz Biscotti, and Tesco Rich Tea).
Petits Filous have recently changed their packaging and now she will only eat Hinz Biscotti and Tesco Rich Tea biscuits.
However, she has began to eat less and less biscuits as the days have progressed and today has only eaten about 10 biscuits all day.
She drinks robinsons squash reguarly. We do give her minadex but this has recently been discontinued.
I really need some advice, I know that autistic children have restricted diets but I havent been able to find example of any that are this restrictive.
She seems extreemly tired, she was full of energy before when she ate the yogurts but now she looks very pale and is losing weight. She starts school in 2 weeks at an autistic resource base school but I'm worried she wont have the energy.
I have booked an appointment to see the GP on Monday to discuss any suppliments such as meal replacement drink that we could possibly give her but these would need to be mixed in with her orange squash so they couldnt be milkshake based and I dont know if supplement drinks exist which are fruit juice/squash based??
My health visitor is out of her depth and says they cant help and our local dietician says their refferal list is closed due to too many cases.
I have got a paediatrician appointment on the 5th October but this is quite a time away yet.
Thanks for reading this,
Please help, I dont know what to do......?
I would ask for a referral to a dietician specialising in children - if your GP can't do it, can s/he refer you to a paediatrician who can? That's how we got our referral... You might also try finding a likely one yourself at a local hospital and just telling the GP you want a referral to that specific person. That way you're not reliant on them knowing what to do! We have had a paediatrician for a couple of years now, and truth be told we probably don't need her input any more, but she's the gateway to lots of other services, so we've agreed she'll see our son twice a year. And she's one of these wonderful, wonderful doctors who realises that she's actually treating the whole family!
3 things I did forget [rolls eyes] - one was getting an ice cube tray and putting tiny bits of food into each bit of it (I put really odd mixtures like cheese, cream cheese, raisins, a solitary grape, raw carrot, a piece of apple, piece of cooked pasta, etc!). It was rather fun for him, though a pain for me, but it did broaden his tastes a bit!
We also had some success getting a little toy till and some toy groceries as well, and by getting him involved in shopping for food. He actually writes a shopping list and follows it now, so he's much more interested in different foods.
And I also forgot to say earlier that I'm ashamed that I refused to "play along" by making mealtimes creative and fun, wanting my son to conform to "normality". Suffice it to say that wasn't a good call...
Good luck! If I remember anything else, I'll get in touch!