Autism and Food Behaviors

Rachel Gordillo
Period 1
                                            Autism and Food Behaviors
             
             Many children with autism can have a hard time digesting or even chewing their food.
Parents of children with autism often take their children to see a gastroenterologist to check their children for certain digestive problems or diseases. Persons with autism (especially young ones) are sensory sensitive and anxiety is not uncommon to them. Mealtime can be a very anxious time for them due to the overstimulation a new food can cause them.  Children with autism are often have a very strong attachment to their parents and a helpful way to tackle this lunchtime anxiety could be having a meal with them. I found this to be helpful with my younger sister Alana, shes extremely clung to my mother, but she does work a lot so she's not always here for meals and that does give her anxiety so we like to have pre-recorded videos of my mother talking that my sister could watch to ease her down, it has been very helpful. It is not uncommon for children with autism to have weakened core muscles so good posture may not come exactly natural to them.  It is important to help guide them to a healthy posture awareness as some may not have a very strong sense of where their body is. Due to that clumsiness is a VERY common triat to those on the spectrum. Another good way to build their palate is careful exposure to new foods, now I'm not saying throw wasabi in baby Jessi's face just take baby steps. For my siblings it was sushi that got them to expand their tastes, we started slow and now it's the best to them. As I stated before mealtime can be anxious for those with autism so having consistent set meal times you can help prepare them for mealtime without hovering too hard. It's important to focus on thier foods and not the behaviors they portray while eating them. If they are most often given a certain food, then they will not be able to feel comfortable trying new foods and I dont blame them.



 sources https://www.autismspeaks.org/blog/2015/10/16/autism-and-mealtime-therapist%E2%80%99s-top-ten-tips-success