Asperger's and Picky Eating

5 tips for your picky eater 

Aspies often have trouble eating foods of certain textures and flavors. And, a limited diet can leave out important nutrients. It’s believed that picky eating stems from sensory sensitivity.  If you want to start helping your child widen the variety of foods they eat, try these five tips:

1)    Make sure the meal is enjoyable: Aspies need to know that when they sit down, there will be at least one food they like on their plate. You can also use this favorite food as a reinforcer throughout the meal (“try some of this; then try some of that”). Your child should be challenged, but the meal should not be a battle. Another thing that makes meals enjoyable for Aspies is setting up external reinforcers like winning Legos for trying new foods. 

2)    Move slowly: “Behavior Chaining” is an important way to move Aspies from their preferred foods to other foods. For example, if your child only likes one brand of mac and cheese, the first new food will be a different brand of mac and cheese. Then they should try homemade mac and cheese, and then they should try cheese with different shaped noodles, etc. The food becomes slowly more and more different than the original food.

3)    Be patient and encourage your child to patient too: It can take about 20 times to get used to a new food. Continue to remind yourself and your child of this fact. If they don’t love the food at first, it doesn’t mean they won’t enjoy it later. Once they try a food and are able to eat it, make sure to generalize it by trying the food in other environments and meals later on.

4)    Try the “around the bowl” technique: This is for young Aspies. Ideally, if your child is old enough to feed him/herself, they should do so. However, if you are holding the bowl and having them try new foods, you start on one side of the bowl with a familiar food, like yogurt. Next to the yogurt is yogurt with fruit, and then next to the yogurt with fruit is oats. Begin feeding the child yogurt, then try the yogurt with fruit, if they like it continue feeding that a few times. If they don’t like it, go back to the yogurt. Then try going around and mixing in the oats, etc. 

5)    Let them have choices: Listen to your child when they say “no.” Try to figure out the pattern of foods that are difficult for them to eat. Work with them to make a list of “easy” “medium” and “hard” foods.” Start each meal with letting them pick a couple of easy foods and one medium food. Praise them for any progress, even if it is one bite. Next, you move on to trying one easy, one medium, and one hard food.

Dr. Lauren King
SoutheastPsych.com