What will you Autism spectrum child eat?

[CorysMomma]

Hi, my 10 year old Autistic (nonverbal) son only eats peanut butter "sandwiches" made with Corn Thins versus bread (gluten free) and Cool Ranch Doritos. He will eat Chocolate and Chocolate Chip Poptarts (name brand only) but I don't give them to him as I am trying to keep him casein & gluten free as much as possible. He used to eat dry Cheerios (again name brand only) but they have gluten too . Most of his best nutrients actually come from his drinks. I give him Silk Vanilla Soymilk with fiber and V8 VFusion juices. That stuff is liquid GOLD for kids like ours!! Each 8oz contains 1 serving of veggies and 1 serving of fruit! Just be sure not to buy the "LIGHT" kind. It is only 50% juice versus 100% for the same price as the regular. So if calories are a concern get the full strength and water it down. (Thats what I do)

As far as candy goes Cory will only eat plain M&Ms (and they have to be the regular colors) and lollipops occasionally.

Cory also suffers from oral-facial weakness so he has a hard time eating food, especially things that aren't crunchy. He can't feel them in his mouth well enough to chew them without gagging. (Imagine trying to eat after going to the dentist and getting novacaine)

His doctor assures us that even though his diet is very limited he has really good muscle tone and is actually healthier than most kids his age! Who'da thunk huh?

 

[bookwormde]

As long as you can get a good multivitamin in him I would not worry too much. If you get blood drawn for any reason it is good to get a panel that will check for any nutritional deficiencies. Vitamin D can be an issue if milk (or products with vitamin D) is not part of the diet and your child does not spend a significant amount of time outside. I wish I could get mine to drink some of the V8 drinks but he cannot handle the texture, our vegetable is ketchup.

bookwormde