Eating can be a huge stress for families of children with ASD. Parents worry about their children eating too much and too little. It can feel like a mystery from one day to the next. Being hungry can cause meltdowns. Not having the right thing to eat can cause meltdowns. But there is some information that will help you understand the bigger picture behind what your child will (and won't) eat . We start with the stress free way to eat more healthily. This will give you a game plan of how to make changes in your family's meals times that will work whether your concerned about picky eating, over eating, or general health. From there we hope you build your understanding of your child's eating by diving into your child's hunger profile, the patterns of picky eating, and the influence of medications.
The stress-free way to eat Healthier
What if I told you the best way to get your child to eat more healthily - whether you're worried about extra weight or picky eating - is to let your child decide whether and how much to eat? Sounds crazy right! But it's true...So if your child decides whether and how much to eat, what's your job as the parent? Well, you're not quite off the hook. Parents - your job is to decide what's available, when mealtimes and snacks are served, and where they are served. This is called Division of Responsibility Feeding...
Understand your child's hunger profile
Do you ever get frustrated because you kiddo refuses to eat anything at dinner, but than wants a snack a few minutes later? Do you look at other parents who have kids eating broccoli and think, "what am I doing wrong?" Are you worried because it seems like your kiddo is hungry all the time?
Well it turns out, kids have really different hunger profiles and understanding hunger profiles can lower your stress by helping you know what to expect ...
Understand the patterns of picky eating
Does your child like noodles, ground beef, and tomato sauce separately, but refuse to eat spaghetti when it is served all together? Maybe they don't like food that touches? Or only certain brands? Does your child think that everything is slimy?
There's been a lot of research on children's picky eating habits and several patterns emerge...
Understand the Role of Special Diets
You've probably heard of the gluten-casein free diet. Before we knew a lot about autism, there was a theory that gluten (found in wheat) and casein (found in milk) might be causing autism and that avoiding foods with gluten and casein could cure autism. Like a lot of early autism theories (think refrigerator moms) that idea was based on faulty logic and science. Now, although we don't know the exact causes of autism, all the evidence is pointing toward complex genetic pathways.
So what about special diets? Special diets can be very stressful for families. Does that mean you shouldn't try a special diet? Not necessarily...
understand the influence of medications
Many parents receive little or no information on the side effects of medication. It turns out that many medications commonly prescribed to children with autism have affects on appetite and metabolism. Sometime challenging behavior related to eating or mealtimes could be related to a child's medication. It can be hard to figure out what's a medical side affect and what's behavioral.