ASD & Food ?s

[OdinsMommy0409]

DS is on the spectrum for ASD, and we've had great success at recovery with biomedical approach to treatment particularly GFCFSF diet. DS continues to have many issues with texture regarding food, namely he only eats pureed foods or foods with similar texture (i.e. baked sweet potato, baked acorn squash, etc.) or GFCF breads. I know it's not about the taste of the foods as he'll eat almost anything if it's pureed.

Anyways, I guess I'm wondering if these food texture issues will get better with a more natural course as he gets older, or is this likely to be his preference for an extended period?

[Village Mama]

He is only a year old?

[OdinsMommy0409]

Originally Posted by Village Mama

He is only a year old?

Yes, it's not that I consider it an issue, but I guess I'm really wondering if it's ASD or age related. ???

[Village Mama]

I would really consider that an age issue personally. Lots of kiddos are barely eating many solids anyways at that age, add in any sensory issues and the tolerance of different textures and flavours may be delayed. If your child was much older my suggestions would be much different...

[StephandOwen]

IMO- I'd consider it *mostly* an age related thing. I work at a daycare and most of our 1 year olds are eating more solid like food. By their 1st birthday most are eating regular food cut small. But there have been some who continue on purees because they just aren't ready. Nothing wrong with that, every kid progresses differently

I would keep an eye on it and continue offering solids. Will he eat banana chunks? Avocado chunks? Purees with more chunks (like stage 3 baby food)?

[OdinsMommy0409]

Originally Posted by Village Mama

I would really consider that an age issue personally. Lots of kiddos are barely eating many solids anyways at that age, add in any sensory issues and the tolerance of different textures and flavours may be delayed. If your child was much older my suggestions would be much different...

Thanks! I figured it was somewhat age related, but it's one of those noticeable things that sets him even more apart (at least to me) when we're around other 1 year olds.

[OdinsMommy0409]

Originally Posted by StephandOwen

IMO- I'd consider it *mostly* an age related thing. I work at a daycare and most of our 1 year olds are eating more solid like food. By their 1st birthday most are eating regular food cut small. But there have been some who continue on purees because they just aren't ready. Nothing wrong with that, every kid progresses differently

I would keep an eye on it and continue offering solids. Will he eat banana chunks? Avocado chunks? Purees with more chunks (like stage 3 baby food)?

Thanks. I did figure it was somewhat age related but having some reassurance is always good.

No, he's unwilling to eat anything chunky except meat. Even with meat though, he's only eating ground or shredded. I'll keep offering it and hopefully we'll see him enjoying the same foods in more solid form.

[StephandOwen]

What does he do if you make.... say.... spaghetti and cut it very fine (not quite a puree, but close)? Will he eat it? What about pancakes cut into very tiny pieces? If you cook some apple until mushy and puree it leaving some small chunks (chunky applesauce)? What happens if you put those things in his mouth? Does he spit them out? Gag/choke?

[OdinsMommy0409]

Spaghetti-type meals he'll frequently just move around the food. If I put really soft spaghetti down, he'll eat it, but if I put the sauce on it, he won't. However, he'll eat the sauce like soup. Essentially, he doesn't put up with/tolerate mixing textures so no chunks in his sauce/puree.

He rarely gags anymore, which is good (progress maybe). And, when he does, his gagging tends to be limited to fruit chunks, which is funny to be b/c he absolutely loves his fruit purees. To some degree, it seems more frustrating to him, because he wants to eat what DH and I eat but he won't eat the solids.

He has days where he's very intolerant of offering solids chunks, and he'll slap anything solid away from him and cry. Other days, he'll just fuss until he gets some puree. On his really good days, he'll actually put a piece in his mouth then spit it out (or gag if it's fruit).

[Lollybrat]

My son with ASD had a really hard time transitioning to table foods as an infant/young toddler. He would not eat anything with pieces until he was about 17 months. He ate purees, yogurt, mashed potatoes, etc. but he would gag and vomit on anything with chunks.

For DS, this was just part of a larger history of oral-motor issues (oral dyspraxia), which is a feature of his ASD. He was unable to latch as an infant and despite everything we tried he could not beastfeed. He always needed a bottle with an easy-flow nipple. He has very limited babbling as an infant and was speech delayed. (He started talking when he was nearly 3.) We spent long intense weeks of teaching him to drink through a straw. He couldn't blow bubbles or blow out his birthday candles until he was 5.

But once DS did start eating table (chunky) food, he took off with it. The kid is just a great eater. He eats a vast variety of foods and will try new foods. He especially loves fruits and veggies. (Last halloween he came back from trick-or-treating, handed me his bag of candy, and asked for a cucumber for a snack.) He is not a picky eater at all. And although he definately has his favorite foods, he does not get stuck in "food ruts" of only eating certain things. He does still have an issue with overstuffing his mouth and with eating too fast, so we need to be watchful about those things.

So yes, in my personal experience your son's preference for pureed textures can be a part of ASD, especially if he has other oral-motor issues such as speech delay. But yes, he can still outgrow it.

I hope that helps.

[OdinsMommy0409]

Originally Posted by Lollybrat

My son with ASD had a really hard time transitioning to table foods as an infant/young toddler. He would not eat anything with pieces until he was about 17 months. He ate purees, yogurt, mashed potatoes, etc. but he would gag and vomit on anything with chunks.

For DS, this was just part of a larger history of oral-motor issues (oral dyspraxia), which is a feature of his ASD. He was unable to latch as an infant and despite everything we tried he could not beastfeed. He always needed a bottle with an easy-flow nipple. He has very limited babbling as an infant and was speech delayed. (He started talking when he was nearly 3.) We spent long intense weeks of teaching him to drink through a straw. He couldn't blow bubbles or blow out his birthday candles until he was 5.

But once DS did start eating table (chunky) food, he took off with it. The kid is just a great eater. He eats a vast variety of foods and will try new foods. He especially loves fruits and veggies. (Last halloween he came back from trick-or-treating, handed me his bag of candy, and asked for a cucumber for a snack.) He is not a picky eater at all. And although he definately has his favorite foods, he does not get stuck in "food ruts" of only eating certain things. He does still have an issue with overstuffing his mouth and with eating too fast, so we need to be watchful about those things.

So yes, in my personal experience your son's preference for pureed textures can be a part of ASD, especially if he has other oral-motor issues such as speech delay. But yes, he can still outgrow it.

I hope that helps.

Yes, thanks so much it does help hearing and knowing. His issue seems to be only texture related as he's been excellent at bf'ing. In the past two months, I've finally been able to hold him while he nurses so that's been amazing progress for us. Since it took 10.5 months for him to let me hold him while he nurse, I can definitely wait another 10 (or more) until he'll eat foods other than purees.

[APToddlerMama]

Has he been evaluated by an OT or SLP yet? They can often be helpful with feeding issues.

[OdinsMommy0409]

Originally Posted by APToddlerMama

Has he been evaluated by an OT or SLP yet? They can often be helpful with feeding issues.

Not yet, we were going to reevaluate at 15 months to see where he's made progress and hasn't with the interventions we've been using thus far.

[Cinder]

How does a 1 year old end up with an autism spectrum diagnosis? That is really early to diagnose...we've been told by various doctors/teachers that 2 1/2 (the age both Kincaid and Travis were at diagnosis) is too early, and they may be right, since at 6, after 4 1/2 years of tons of therapy, Kincaid has lost his autism spectrum diagnosis, at least for the time being (current diagnosis is global dyspraxia and otherwise health impaired).

Anyway, at 1 I wouldn't worry, one of my kids actually wasn't eating anything but breastmilk for the most part at that point. If at 18 months he is only eating pureed food, I'd look into it further. Kincaid got a couple years of feeding therapy, and I couldn't suggest it highly enough if you end up needing it. He went from literally starving himself, going days at a time without eating ANYTHING, not even a bite, severely anemic, needed iv rehydration, and days away from a feeding tube to eating 3 meals and 2 snacks a day...they are really small meals and snack, he just doesn't require as much food as our other kids (strangely though, he is the one kid who grows...the other 3 we have dealt with failure to thrive basically since birth), but he does eat, and he eats a variety of foods.

[OdinsMommy0409]

Originally Posted by Cinder

How does a 1 year old end up with an autism spectrum diagnosis? That is really early to diagnose...we've been told by various doctors/teachers that 2 1/2 (the age both Kincaid and Travis were at diagnosis) is too early, and they may be right, since at 6, after 4 1/2 years of tons of therapy, Kincaid has lost his autism spectrum diagnosis, at least for the time being (current diagnosis is global dyspraxia and otherwise health impaired).

Anyway, at 1 I wouldn't worry, one of my kids actually wasn't eating anything but breastmilk for the most part at that point. If at 18 months he is only eating pureed food, I'd look into it further. Kincaid got a couple years of feeding therapy, and I couldn't suggest it highly enough if you end up needing it. He went from literally starving himself, going days at a time without eating ANYTHING, not even a bite, severely anemic, needed iv rehydration, and days away from a feeding tube to eating 3 meals and 2 snacks a day...they are really small meals and snack, he just doesn't require as much food as our other kids (strangely though, he is the one kid who grows...the other 3 we have dealt with failure to thrive basically since birth), but he does eat, and he eats a variety of foods.

His regression occurred after 7 month vax, and our subsequent doctor visits and testing showed clearly ASD. Plus, he had diagnosed neurological damage to his pituitary from vax injury. I imagine the severity of his signs - only I could "hold" him facing toward me (he would actually have to be on a pillow for nursing, if he was held it had to be facing-outward but holding him was extremely difficult; loss of direct eye contact and began constantly having an extreme headtilt to look at objects, persons; had been doing BLW and was eating solids and started solid refusal; incessant & inconsolable crying; new sleeplessness; loss of expression; etc.

I think the doctors didn't hesitate to diagnose as we began seeing DAN! doctors per recommendation of the National Vaccine Information Center to address the vax injury. ASD screening was required to see them, and his regression waved some big red flags. We began biomedical interventions , and we feel very fortunate that they have been helping tremendously. I truly believe we'll lose the ASD dx by 24 months due to the progress we've seen with some residual sensory issues.