I have a daughter on the spectrum. It took many hours each week and many weeks in a year of ABA (RBT, hopefully getting my acronyms right) therapy to get her to accept a variety of foods. Fast forward to a few years later, she’ll eat anything including spicy food (by her own choice). It was definitely a texture thing, as well as her wanting a constant she could reliably predict. As part of her therapy we always included something she liked alongside the things she didn’t. We were firm she had to try everything every time, even if she couldn’t finish.
Don’t take no for an answer. What’s for dinner is what you get or you can go to bed hungry. My mom just didn’t put up with my bullshit and let me not eat my food if I didn’t want it but absolutely refused to let me have anything else until dinner was eaten. If I ate my dinner I could have whatever I wanted (in the house, which was pretty much all healthy food).
I have a daughter on the spectrum. It took many hours each week and many weeks in a year of ABA (RBT, hopefully getting my acronyms right) therapy to get her to accept a variety of foods. Fast forward to a few years later, she’ll eat anything including spicy food (by her own choice). It was definitely a texture thing, as well as her wanting a constant she could reliably predict. As part of her therapy we always included something she liked alongside the things she didn’t. We were firm she had to try everything every time, even if she couldn’t finish.
My mom used this strategy. The problem was there was and still are a lot of foods I just straight don’t like. Not “I’d just rather have spaghetti-os” but, “I cannot stomach this because of the taste or texture or whatever”. She also was not a very good cook so even if it was something I liked usually I sometimes wouldn’t like it. This led to a lot of nights of us sitting at the table with me getting yelled at and not allowed to leave the table until my plate was cleared .
I’m willing to try this if I can introduce it gradually.
I’ve heard talk of this causing “disordered eating” but haven’t done the reading myself on that. Do you think it caused any negative outcomes for yourself?
I have a reduced appetite as an adult because of medical conditions, so it’s difficult to tell because I have a hard time eating anyway. I don’t have any food aversions and if I’m hungry will eat most anything. But like the other reply to my comment said, it resulted in a lot of unpleasant dinners. I was on a behavioral diet most of my childhood as well so that had a factor in it all too. I think having a standard, boring “second choice” might be a good idea, but also definitely just communicate about what they like and don’t like, children are capable of reason just not always encouraged into the ability.
I had pretty serious behavioral issues as a kid, mom put me on an exclusion diet designed by a kind of woo-y Dr, but I do think it helped. I guess people have lots of food “sensitivities” that might be tied to childhood behavior? I didn’t eat gluten, corn, milk, potatoes, tomatoes, and a bunch of less significant things for 18 months, than was reintroduced to those things slowly via tincture for 6 months. As an adult I still don’t really know what he was doing because the diagnosis involved holding 2 electrodes like an e meter but it did seem to have noticeable benefits to my behavior.
Any tips? You’re freaking me out with regards to my little dude.
I have a daughter on the spectrum. It took many hours each week and many weeks in a year of ABA (RBT, hopefully getting my acronyms right) therapy to get her to accept a variety of foods. Fast forward to a few years later, she’ll eat anything including spicy food (by her own choice). It was definitely a texture thing, as well as her wanting a constant she could reliably predict. As part of her therapy we always included something she liked alongside the things she didn’t. We were firm she had to try everything every time, even if she couldn’t finish.
You got this!
Thank you so much for your tips and encouragement.
Since I had to look it up, here it is for others’ benefit:
Don’t take no for an answer. What’s for dinner is what you get or you can go to bed hungry. My mom just didn’t put up with my bullshit and let me not eat my food if I didn’t want it but absolutely refused to let me have anything else until dinner was eaten. If I ate my dinner I could have whatever I wanted (in the house, which was pretty much all healthy food).
I have a daughter on the spectrum. It took many hours each week and many weeks in a year of ABA (RBT, hopefully getting my acronyms right) therapy to get her to accept a variety of foods. Fast forward to a few years later, she’ll eat anything including spicy food (by her own choice). It was definitely a texture thing, as well as her wanting a constant she could reliably predict. As part of her therapy we always included something she liked alongside the things she didn’t. We were firm she had to try everything every time, even if she couldn’t finish.
You got this!
My mom used this strategy. The problem was there was and still are a lot of foods I just straight don’t like. Not “I’d just rather have spaghetti-os” but, “I cannot stomach this because of the taste or texture or whatever”. She also was not a very good cook so even if it was something I liked usually I sometimes wouldn’t like it. This led to a lot of nights of us sitting at the table with me getting yelled at and not allowed to leave the table until my plate was cleared .
I’m willing to try this if I can introduce it gradually.
I’ve heard talk of this causing “disordered eating” but haven’t done the reading myself on that. Do you think it caused any negative outcomes for yourself?
I have a reduced appetite as an adult because of medical conditions, so it’s difficult to tell because I have a hard time eating anyway. I don’t have any food aversions and if I’m hungry will eat most anything. But like the other reply to my comment said, it resulted in a lot of unpleasant dinners. I was on a behavioral diet most of my childhood as well so that had a factor in it all too. I think having a standard, boring “second choice” might be a good idea, but also definitely just communicate about what they like and don’t like, children are capable of reason just not always encouraged into the ability.
Thanks for your honest feedback and sharing.
What’s a behavioural diet, just like what you said with “if you do this, then that”?
I had pretty serious behavioral issues as a kid, mom put me on an exclusion diet designed by a kind of woo-y Dr, but I do think it helped. I guess people have lots of food “sensitivities” that might be tied to childhood behavior? I didn’t eat gluten, corn, milk, potatoes, tomatoes, and a bunch of less significant things for 18 months, than was reintroduced to those things slowly via tincture for 6 months. As an adult I still don’t really know what he was doing because the diagnosis involved holding 2 electrodes like an e meter but it did seem to have noticeable benefits to my behavior.