My son who is now 16 with Aspergers was terribly bad eater. Picky and only eating one thing etc. But at 14 or so changed now is like a vacumn cleaner and is as tall as me and bigger stronger LOL still wont do anything but thats lazy not Aspie well he is a teen boy

is she using food refusal as a way of getting more attention from you perhaps?
point out that she wont be as big as her classmates or as strong or healthy

My 3 year old has food issues...but I have noticed with her it is relative to what she is eating. She is very picky and the list of foods she will eat is not that long. But, if it is a favorite of hers (or the right texture...she likes chewy foods like raisins and other dried fruits as opposed to fresh fruits that are "mushy") then she will eat alot of the favorite food. She is thin also.

i have a non eater also(7)although over the past couple of years it has gotten better. he eats almost nothing but carbs (but not sweets). a few things that have worked to improve his diet have been:
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

My grandson Tyler is 6, too. He will have a favorite food for a while, then suddenly one day will decide it's yucky and will not touch it again for months. He is also very thin! But I think watching energy level is as important as weight. If your child is energetic, shows interest in things around her, etc., she is probably getting enough nourishment.

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.

I have the same problem, I don't eat many different foods and it is so hard to eat.
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, textures, and swallowing

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

My SIl has an Aspie and he's currently 8 years old. Until this very summer he was skinny to the point of bones sticking out and anyone could count his vertebre. All he wanted was white starchy. Pasta with butter, bread and butter, etc Anyway, after this summer , he hadn't seen him. Gosh! Tall, broad, muscular, and eating better. He literally looks like a different kid. Amazing what a summer can do!

My son Andrew, weeks away from 10, 4'8", 90 lbs. has the usual pickiness that goes with his "disorder" as we call it. He refuses textures similar to applesause or soup, only mozzerella cheese, no chocolate and so on. I know the books don't reccomend accomodating children regularly, but our children are different and they will need some accomadation to survive. I try to balance Andrew's meals with what he will eat and capped off with a multiple vitamin. I wish you the best, we have a long road ahead of us.

My son Andrew, weeks away from 10, 4'8", 90 lbs. has the usual pickiness that goes with his "disorder" as we call it. He refuses textures similar to applesause or soup, only mozzerella cheese, no chocolate and so on. I know the books don't reccomend accomodating children regularly, but our children are different and they will need some accomadation to survive. I try to balance Andrew's meals with what he will eat and capped off with a multiple vitamin. I wish you the best, we have a long road ahead of us.

I'm noticing that it is common among even adults with AS to eat only a few foods, too little of foods, and an unbalanced diet. I think it's a continuing problem.

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!

In my experience with both children on the autism spectrum (my younger with moderate autism to my very high functiong aspie 11 yr old son) that they are very picky eaters. In fact thye crave most of the items that would be excluded on the cassein /gluten free diet. It was for this reason that I never tried to eliminate these things because I know they would surely starve! My husband had said if they are hungry enough they WILL eat, but that's not the case. When my younger one started dropping weight, and was so thin I realized I had to really have available all the things he enjoys. I do limit their sugar intake, and they both are not crazy about meat, but I do try to get in some healthy foods. Mostly yogurt, apples, grapes, whole grains, etc is what I can get down their throats. lol My oldest son actually has more sensory issues with food and will vomit on the spot if I offer him something new to try. For him I believe it's totally texture, and he can tell by minute detail if you change it up or put something in a blender. I even tried those V8 juice blends that are suppose to be able to hide the vegies. It would just sit in the glass.

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!

Hi

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.