
Asperger Syndrome Support Group
Asperger syndrome - also referred to as Asperger's syndrome, Asperger's, Aspergers or just AS - is one of five neurobiological pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), and is characterized by deficiencies in social and communication skills, normal to above normal intelligence, and standard language development.
Aspergers and poor eating habits

deleted_user
Anyone out there with a young child with aspergers and poor eating?
My little lady is 6 years old and survives on virtually nothing. She refuses to eat more than a couple of mouthfuls of anything.
She is constantly underweight and despite the best efforts of us and a dietician we can't get her to eat. She is on medication for epilepsy and can't help wondering about the effect on her little tummy of the medication and not much food.
If anyone has any help or advice it would be fantastic.
Thanks guys,
Mandiex
My little lady is 6 years old and survives on virtually nothing. She refuses to eat more than a couple of mouthfuls of anything.
She is constantly underweight and despite the best efforts of us and a dietician we can't get her to eat. She is on medication for epilepsy and can't help wondering about the effect on her little tummy of the medication and not much food.
If anyone has any help or advice it would be fantastic.
Thanks guys,
Mandiex
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i make him taste everything, he usually won't eat the item, but i find the more times he's tasted it the more likely he is to eat it.
i give him a beverage he likes to wash it down with.
i hide liquid multi-vitimins in his food.
he drinks a glass of todler formula daily.
i am carefull to explain to him what the vitamins are in the foods and what they do for his body. for example, carrots har carotin in them and you need this vitamin to help you see.....
bribes... "if you eat this for me i'll give you something you like".
sam is very sensitive to texture, taste, and smell, so sometimes just cooking the item in a different way or raw helps.
hope this helps
sammysmom
I think the suggestion to give her a supplemental drink each day is great! Even is it takes all day to get one 8-oz. bottle or can down, she's gaining great nutrition and several hundred calories (depending on which you choose).
We watch to see what Ty is interested in and feed him lots of whatever that is! But he's also great about "Just take a bite and see." Then he's rewarded for his effort.
As Churchill said: NEVAH GIVE UP.
Is there a certain food she seems to like better? If so, try to feed her that and add in flavorless vitamin powder for nutrition. I tend to hate certain textures, smells or how thick/thin something is. If you can see if those things have something to do with it, you may be able to figure out why.
I would not worry so much about how the medication reacts to her stomach if she is not getting sick or on a lot of medications.
One thing that will help coat the stomach is something like milk, so if you can have her drink a glass of white/chocolate before, with and some after, that will help if you are worried.
Food grinder: This little thing is a miracle worker--must have!
Great thing so that the tounge can sense when food is going to slide down the throat... and great for introducting new food textures. Wake up the mouth and throat!
DRINK a cold drink before meals to help wake up your throat also, and stops some of the tactile defensiveness in the throat that can cause a lot of gaging, etc.
Oral-motor feeding therapy is also wonderful!!
Kris
PS: Also Autistic people need extra nutrients and vitamins
In the *Loving Mr. Spock* book, she discusses the "gut" problem theory of autism. It's possible that there are digestive issues going on, in the disorder, similar to food allergies: the people only want to eat the very foods that they are allergic to, that are making them sicker: white bread & sugar!
I had a dietician here when they were younger. She literally had my entire pantry on the table and tried all her tricks, but nothing worked. So, with supplements, and getting in some healthy foods, I pray that this will be enough for their growth and development.
One thing I did find that my doc said could help put on the weight is shakes. Take some carnation instant breakfast and mix it in the blender with some ice cream and milk and see if she can get that down. They come in chocolate, vanilla and strawberry but my kids seemed to just like the vanilla the best.
Good luck to you!
Sorry to hear about the eating problem with your Daughter.
My son is now 9 almost 10, he always been a bad eater but he has been slowly improving of the years.
The only thing I could suggest is stick at it sometimes you have to offer new food two or three times even before they will even consider trying it.
I think with my son he has a problem with the texture of the food he doesn't like soft spongy food, he prefers crunchy things.
Maybe you could try to give the child a choice of different types of food rather than just giving them one thing, I've found that if they have some control over what they eat it helps.
Good luck and don't give up.