Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi there. Our six year old son has just received a diagnosis of autism (it's been a long old process). We have awful problems with his diet; he used to eat a really wide variety of food until he was about 4. Now all he will eat is milk loaf with either nutella or peanut butter (he eats this rarely now), cheese straws, pain au chocolate, crackers and sweets. He refuses to eat fruit - up until recently he would eat raspberries. I'm at my wits end. When I try to encourage him to try new foods he just point blank refuses and also refuses any further mention of the subject. Does anyone have any suggestions. He is extremely stubborn and if he says no then that's the end of the matter as far as he's concerned. I've tried everything I can think of and nothing seems to work. I really feel as if I'm failing him and this contributes to my depression. Any help gratefully received.
My son is 11 and also has a pretty restrictive diet although he ate all sorts as a toddler. We discovered it’s a texture thing. He doesn’t like soft or wet food. Like pasta, beans etc. He likes dry, crisp foods like pizza, chicken etc. But even that can be difficult if it’s the wrong type of pizza! I try to get in what Goodness i can and try to accept that as long as he is eating something he will be ok. He will have a smoothie every day (the innocent ones) he will eat an apple but that’s the only fruit or veg I can get him to take in. It’s not uncommon, just try not to put it on yourself. Lots of neurotypical kids are fussy too, add to that sensory needs or habitual preferences and it’s not surprising our kids have a tendency to restrict their diets x