I know a lot of mom's I talk to struggle and battle to get their children to eat at least ONE good (healthy) meal a day. Vegetables - you may as well forget about it, if you have a child under 4 or 5. Most of their kids have their preferred and favorite foods. That is pretty typical of most kids. But children with Autism are "picky" on another level. Forget about eating out with children with Autism (aside from other issues) because chicken fingers and french fries won't cut it (anywhere)! And cook-outs at friends' houses have to be strategically planned out, or separate meals packed, to make sure there is something my child will eat there.
Currently Chase will eat the following things:
Breakfast - Waffles (but only Eggo brand - we tried to buy the Costco/Kirkland's brand and he wouldn't touch them), Pancakes (only the microwave kind), Cinnamon Rolls (Pillsbury Flakey Cinnamon Rolls), Honey Nut Cheerios (dry), Cinnamon Raisin Toast (Pepperidge Farm Brand only - has to have the raisins)
Lunch/Dinner - Cinnamon Toast, Blueberries, Strawberries, Banana, Pineapple (sometimes), Canned Pears (sometimes), diced apples (no skin, sometimes), Grilled Cheese, Peanut Butter & Jelly (no crust), Peanut Butter toast (sometimes he will eat the crust on, sometimes not), Chick-Fil-A (chicken nuggets and fries)
Snacks - Goldfish, Vanilla Wafers (sometimes), Cheetos, Gerber Cheese Puffs, Tortilla Chips (only the Santitos $2 kind/brand)
Drinks - Juice (out of a certain type of sippy cup with a straw) & Milk (2% out of a different type of cup than the juice cup)...he won't TOUCH any other kind of liquid or drink out of any other types of cups. Period!
There was a time, when Chase started eating finger foods, that he would eat peas, carrots, turkey, mac and cheese, etc...the typical things you feed children as they enter the world of finger foods. Eventually he started limiting the foods he would eat to the point where he pretty much only wanted waffles or pancakes (who wouldn't, right?!). When we moved to Nashville a few months ago we were basically at that point. I felt like a short order cook. I tried EVERYTHING I thought he liked at EVERY meal. I started dreading meal time like a plague! It was literally the most stressful, miserable part of the day. It always ended in a fight and me giving in to making waffles because I couldn't let him go to bed hungry. With Chase being non-verbal this made the struggle of meal time and "picky-ness" even harder because he couldn't actually tell me what he wanted, I had to guess. My grocery bill and the amount of food I wasted was horrendous! I thought at one point that maybe him being picky was just an issue of control. We went through a lot of change when we moved to Nashville, and maybe this was just his way of having some control over everything?
I have since learned that a lot of Chase's picky eating habits are sensory related. He doesn't like the texture: on his fingers, lips, tongue, mouth, teeth etc. The temperature isn't right: it's either too cold or too hot. The smell bothers him to the point he won't even put it in his mouth. Same with the the way it looks. He only likes to chew on the back left side of his mouth, he doesn't like to bite in to foods with his front teeth (too sensitive). If it doesn't look like something he is used to eating (even if it's the most delicious thing you have ever tasted) he won't put it near his mouth! I cannot tell you how many times I have physically shoved food in his mouth because I knew IF HE JUST TASTED IT he would love it! I'm not promoting this, but when he eats one kind of glazed donuts, and these are in a different box, but taste the exact same as the others...that's when I do it.
Shortly after we started at Brown we started feeding therapy. And Chase started using an iPad to communicate. One of the first things we started using the iPad for was meal time. He now has options to choose from and a voice to tell me what he wants to eat!
First, the feeding therapy: they are working on getting him to BITE into carrots and apples with is front teeth (which after about 5-6 weeks he is consistently doing). He is eating apple sauce (3 different flavors), tolerating Gerber Graduates fruit/veggie purees in his mouth, eating pears, and tolerating mac and cheese in his mouth. He is also using a spoon, something we haven't been able to get him to do consistently ever. Second, the iPad: this device has actually made meal time SO. MUCH. EASIER!!! I cannot tell you how much stress has been taken away because of this device! And Chase is actually eating what he chooses. I give him 3-4 preferred options and 2-3 non-preferred options. I usually let him start eating what he chooses and try to work in a few bites of some non-preferred food just to keep some control and try to get him to taste new things. We use an "all done bowl" for him to spit or put food in to after he tastes it, if he won't swallow it.
For now, meal time is actually pleasant (most of the time) and his variety of foods is gradually growing!
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