Autism and eating

lulu221110

Hello all,

I have a verbal four year old who is autistic and seems to be less and less flexible with what she is willing to eat as she gets older. She likes food to be plain, dry, and not touching. She loves crisps and cakes and eats apple at times. Sometimes she eats curry that I make and can handle spaghetti and pasta that is not plain at times. I am often not sure if she has eaten at nursery or not but have held back from giving her packed lunch as she really likes doing what all the other children are doing and is probably more likely to eat there than at home.

Recently, she has been really hard to feed and seems to not be hungry or want anything at all. As a result she is eating very small amounts of processed foods such as fridge raiders, brioche rolls, mini cheese, yoghurt and that is about it. I cannot get her to eat any fruit or veg at the moment- even getting her to eat a piece of broccoli which she used to love is very hard work.

Are there any tips or suggestions of other things she may like that I can try that are more nutritious? We are not trying to convince her to eat but I am feeling a bit worried as she is only on the 9th percentile as it is and I am aware of the links between autism and eating disorders, particularly in girls. 

Any suggestions would be very welcome,

Thanks,

Lucetta

lulu221110

@Biblioklept
Thank you so much! This is so helpful. I really hadn't thought about the 'good' and 'bad' food concepts and it makes total sense how this would condition anyone into feeling that one thing was a chore and the other a reward. I actually think that your comment is the most useful thing I have read about helping her so I am very appreciative that you took the time to write such a detailed response. It also makes perfect sense that she likes processed foods more, and I can now remember a few times that I have cooked something and she has seemed really excited only just to spit it all out. I am glad that you were able to work through some of your difficulties with food  too