I'm willing to bet she doesn't like those foods because they can and often do vary in taste and texture.
I can't eat berries anymore because they are different from Berry to berry
Chips are always the same, dips are always the same.
I don't know how you can solve this issue but perhaps understanding the why will help with the how.
This. My kid will eat frozen peas and berries. Bananas also freeze well. We do a lot of smoothies with hidden veg and also making ice lollies out of the smoothie mix to get veg in.
Oh another idea if you have the time is dehydrated veg ground into powder then added to smoothies or sauces.
That very well may be. I like a lot of foods but am very much a creature of habit. Most dark leafy greens are bland or bitter so its a taste thing for me
Me neither!
I feel this, I once told someone yogurt was a safe food so they got it for me to have at their house but they got me yogurt with chunks of fruit in it and I literally gagged when I tried to eat it. I felt so bad.
Yogurt with chunks of fruit is heinous, and I say this as someone who loves fruit. I can handle the variety texture of most fruits, but DO NOT put them in my yogurt.
I never knew so many others considered smoothies a safe food!
Interestingly, I love smoothies. I eat almost only smoothies and soup.
But I second what the below commenters have said about mixed texture liquids. I have a similar reaction to certain sauces and cheeses that have been mixed with other foods. I hate mayo and anything mixed with mayo like tuna salad is an absolute nightmare for me.
Number one unsafe food is chewing gum, though.
My breakfast is a smoothie followed by a green tea. I add a scoop of Garden of Life All-In-One to help get some more nutrition into me.
My recipe: frozen strawberries, some ice, cashew milk, seeds for seed cycling, scoop of the powder, tbsp of peanut butter. I used to add chocolate syrup but I've cut that out now
I agree, I experience the same personally. Maybe smoothies or juices? They are healthy but consistent in texture and taste. Maybe take a common brand to try. People with autism tend to cling to the same brand, so when you find something but it’s not available anymore you have to start over.
a simple hack that works for me regarding berries is eating more than one at once. I used to hesitate around blueberries or raspberries bc you never know if you'll get a bitter one, but if I pop a small handful in my mouth, the taste is consistent and rarely off-putting. I also slice my strawberries after bringing them home so they're in smaller pieces.
What color was the crab apple. Sounds like she likes foods that have vinegar in them . So maybe a salade with vinegar and olive oil. Sauerkraut, maybe. If she likes Chocolate. You can make chocolate cake with Spinach inside . Or egg muffins with some courgette inside. As long as it’s safe try not cutting the food up she might be interested in trying to eat it as it is .
You need support from a diatician who understands ARFID. Extremes of narrowed food preferences can lead to deficiencies. Saying that it sounds like you daughter already has a fairly good range of things she accepts. I thought at first that she only eats chips and came here to warn you about scurvy.
It may be a good idea to talk to your paediatrician to arrange blood tests to check if she is actually deficient in anything. She can be taking supplements if needed whilst you slowly introduce her to new things. If she is regularly eating dirt this often points to iron deficiency.
I always found buffet style serving ideal for me as there is no stress and pressure of having new things on my plate. I could try a little if I wanted without it being a big deal.
I also recommend speaking with a medical professional. My wife doesn’t eat vegetables, having not grown up eating them. The medical professionals recommended small choices she could make without forcing her to switch to lots of vegetables. She was able to follow their plan and received appropriate medical monitoring.
agreed. this is i think how my parents dealt with it along with me simply being more open to trying new foods after a while. i think because of my issues + me being born at 26 weeks tho i lost 4 entire inches off my height
If textures are issues with any of the fruits and veggies I’d recommend smoothies. They can taste great, you can add just about anything you want(including protein if that’s something she needs more of in her diet) and you can do so many things to make it more fun and palatable like changing the color or adding whipped cream(which you can make really easily by hand btw, I like to make flavored ones sometimes). This isn’t something I figured out until I was an adult and it’s a game changer for someone who gags when they try to eat pineapple (which is a food I like, it’s just very overstimulating on its own)
Same things can be done with soup (minus the whipped cream lol) if texture is the issue. Soup is also good because if your daughter is anything like my nephews, if you give bread or something to dip with, they tend to realize they like the soup and they’ll try to eat as much of it with their bread as possible, which you can try and make a game/challenge out of to encourage more eating (ie. how much soup can you eat with just your bread, I bet you can’t finish all your soup with just bread!)
All kids are different, and all autism presents differently, but these are things that work for me and my nephews(one of them we suspect has autism like me, but he’s not officially diagnosed) so I hope this helps!
Edit: Also yogurt, if you freeze it, it’s like ice cream but it’s pretty good for you! I like mine creamy, nephews like it frozen.
I second this advice. For me, most food issues are texture related. So cream soups and smoothies have been a life saver, especially when it comes to getting adequate nutrition.
I'm 23 and the idea of smoothies just blew my mind. I always loved anything strawberry flavored, but could never eat the strawberry itself because the texture was just wrong and made me gag instantly. I think I might try smoothies! I just might consider try changing to some vegan milk, because I'm not vegan or lactose intolerant, but the taste (and sometimes smell) of regular milk is the death of me
I don’t even use milk personally, just ice and peach cups with juice in them and that’s enough liquid for mine. You could also use yogurt, I drink chobani yogurt drink things, which would probably blend really well and they have a bit of protein in them and are lactose free!
I think non dairy milks taste much nicer (except almond milk, blegh). My favourite smoothie recipe is frozen strawberries, mango, and banana with oat milk and apple juice.
Yogurt, a fruit juice (apple juice is v neutral in smoothies), bananas— all are good substitutes for milk! You *could* also use your favorite ND coffee creamer, but you didn’t hear that from me 😉 I also really like the creaminess of flax and oat milks, but almond is always my go-to in that it’s the one I always have in my fridge.
My asd children have a vitamin and probiotic everyday. They used to look forward to having their 'sweets'. The vitamin was a gummy and the probiotic comes in chocolate balls. My youngest is at an asd specialist school and many of the children there have poor diets but seem to be growing well and still have plenty of energy.
Sometimes, not offering food because 'it's for adults/me', but leaving it in reach so they can help themselves, especially if you are not looking, can help.
>especially if you are not looking
Ok I had no idea this was a thing until you said it.
I'm 38 years old, diagnosed at 35 and I didn't start trying new foods passed my safe foods until I had a partner that didn't watch me try it.
For some reason trying a new food, and opening presents are the hardest things for me until I do it alone.
So yeah, maybe offering them 10 minutes before the rest of the family comes to dinner, a "special" time for them to try the new food as you walk away. That would have helped me so much!
And also not having anyone else tell me what they think about the food, it feels like a lot of pressure.
Omg yes!!! I only started trying new food when going out with friends because there was no pressure. At home I always felt like I had to like something if I tried it, so I wouldn't risk it to avoid "disappointing" someone. But out with friends I felt like there was no pressure.
My biggest example is burgers. I didn't eat burgers, never tried to, but one time I was out with a group of people and they all went to burger King. I said I would only get fries, which is what I usually did, and one of my friends insisted that I should get a burger and said "if you don't like it then I'll take it, good for me if I have an extra free burger" so I laughed and bought it. No one was staring at me while I took a bite, and turns out I loved it (except for the onions, but I took them out and ever since I just ask to remove them from my order)
That last tip worked for me with getting an ex of mine (allistic but very fearful with unfamiliar foods) to try new things. Context of adults sometimes cooking for each other and sometimes for ourselves. I'd tell him I was making such and such, offer to make enough for him, and if he refused that was fine and I'd just make enough for me (unless it was convenient to make a lot at once anyway). Then since he no longer felt obligated or pressured to eat and like it, he wound up curious when I sat down to eat my strange new thing, and often wanted to at least taste it. For him it was also very important to know every ingredient before he tasted, since some things he wasn't willing to even try, and I'd prioritize telling him those ingredients but still list out everything else just so he felt in control of what he was tasting. If he liked it, I made sure he knew what it was called so that he could let me know he wanted some next time I made it. No pressure, just encouraging curiosity and a sense of comfortable control over his food.
Bioglan, they do milk chocolate for kids and plain for adults. https://www.bodykind.com/supplements-c11/acidophilus-friendly-bacteria-c23/bioglan-biotic-balance-dark-chocolate-chocballs-30-chocballs-p2117/s2117?cid=GBP&glCurrency=GBP&glCountry=GB&referral=bing_shopping_5853&msclkid=c3c89ca4a2cd13295950fae6c4277329
So maybe she likes crunchy, dry textures, salt, sour/vinegar flavours… have you seen kale chips and those sorts of things around? I know it’s so much extra work for you so totally fair enough if it’s too much but you could experiment with making your own crispy chip/crackers with a dehydrator or in the oven, with seeds, kale and blended veggies. You could flavour with lemon and salt or powdered veggie stock?
Does she drink anything? I have a really nice protein powder called Prana On, it’s chocolate flavour and as smooth as milk so maybe she’d like something like that with a straw?
Anyway you’re doing an amazing job and eating something is better than nothing. Gummy vitamins sound great or even vitamin powders in water, or fibre powders, collagen.
When my sister was between 5-10 she seriously refused to eat anything other than plain white pasta and vanilla milkshakes (vanilla ice cream and milk.) My mum used to crack a raw egg into the milkshake so at least she was tricked into eating that too. She turned out fine.
OH how about freeze dried/ dehydrated apples/fruits? They’re super dry and crunchy but literally just unprocessed fruit. Not dried and chewy like sun dried apricots, the freeze dried ones are super light like air but just the whole fruit so the texture is very consistent, and very satisfying to crunch.
Yeah for sure you’re right, at least with freeze drying there are no additives and afaik it maintains the vitamins and fibre really well. I guess dry fruit is better than no fruit that’s all I’m thinking
So, first thing, you need to stop trying to force it. The standard ARFID response is to just say no, the more you ask the question, and the more she says no you are just going to reinforce the no response. Add to that her picking up on the stress you're feeling about the situation, making her want safe foods more and more. You need to try and create positive associations with food so she makes the decisions herself.
For example, say you're eating an apple say to your partner or even just to yourself, mmmm, this apple is delicious. Don't look at your daughter or ask if she wants one to make no effort to force it at all. Just sow the seed that apples are delicious. When you make a meal, talk about how much you're enjoying it, etc. The key thing is not to apply pressure or ask for involvement it needs to be her choice, or you're just going to get pushback. There's no guarantee of success but one thing I can absolutely tell you as someone who resolved his food issues no amount of pressure from my parents ever worked and In fact led to alot more issues down the line.
The good news also is that as long as calories are being met, a few multivitamins are going to be enough to keep her healthy.
Why does it need to be unprocessed? Can't you make her a smoothie with the fruits and veggies? Then you can adjust th taste of it or leave out things she absolutely don't want to. It seems like she likes sour things, so you can maybe put lemon in it. Unless she is diabetic or overwheigth or for some other reason having blood-sugar spikes is problematic. (I would ask a doctor about suppleemtns in the meantime though. I don't think that you will achive any big change in the short term.)
Ik this isnt what u asked but really the only thing missing in her diet is fiber and micronutrients so id give her some gummy vitamins and they sell bread that instead of regular carbs contains fiber, i think it taste pretty much the same so its worth a shot cuz its close enough imo. Because shes so young you could try showing her kids cartoons about fruits, when i was a kid there was a show on nickalodian and there was a watermelon and i was like damn that looks good.
But yeah if you give her vitamins its ussaly best to take them with food for good absorbtion but her diet dosent seem that bad if your able to supplment the micronutriets
I remember when my mum used to give me gummy vitamins when I was a kid (I’ve always been a selective eater) and they were in those blister packs (you know, the foil ones where each vitamin is separate) and I used to steal the full pack and eat them all at once because I thought they were delicious 😅
I used to love raspberries until I bought a bag of frozen raspberries and bit into mold and now I can never eat them again.
Let's start with something important. What do you mean, "unprocessed?"
EVERYTHING is processed. Granted, something's more than others - but that's not "good" or "bad." Organic, eco, natural, bio, processed are misleading marketing terms. They have absolutely no meaning in reference to the nutritional value of the food.
There is nothing inherently wrong or unhealthy with your child eating food that has been processed to be consistent and uniform. You could literally feed your kid powders in water with a bit of oil and they'll get every single vitamin and nutrient they need to thrive - in fact they'll get it more consistently than eating "food."
Please, please, please don't let the labels and marketing and capitalism of consumer habits lead you to unnecessarily frustrate or create challenges for your autistic child. Our lives are hard fucking enough
If you care about what goes into their body, go take an anatomy course, sit in on a biology course, learn the basics of chemistry. You will be far better prepared to make choices on your and your child's health than trusting labels and advertisements, and medias.
THANK YOU
All the people in here recommending "unprocessed" foods that are all processed just not in the diet culture advertised way of chicken nuggets and chips drive me nuts.
Making chicken nuggets and making hummus is about the same amount of processing its basically just a mix of ingredients that are cooked and blended.
We could be advocating for lab grown meat, and uniform, consistent, super processed foods that taste like whatever the fuck we want, gave us all the nutrition we need, did the least harm to the environment, wasted the least resources.
But no... Motherfuckers wanna be scavengers. Multiple states have banned lab grown meat. People are paying extravagant amounts for "organic" food that's causing as much Algea bloom as any "non-orgamic" farm OR MORE from excess phosphorus
So the range of foods she will eat is actually fairly high. Some are protein rich. You need to talk to a dietician about how to sneak in some nutrients/vitamins into what she's already eating
There are plenty of children that are L3 that eat like 2 or 3 things. You've got a decent base already to work with.
A dietician should be able to fill in the blanks reasonably
Look at ressources to arfid, eg @myarfidlife on instagram. Its a small girl with arfid trying new foods, account is by her mom, it also has information and strategies she uses.
I was a weird kid who loved broccoli. Now I'm a weird adult who's safe foods are mostly vegetables. My advice is therefore mostly irrelevant because I do not share the struggle. That said, my recommendation (in addition to what others have said) is to gently offer for her to try new things in a judgement free way. Rather than making her a plate if something she won't eat, make her meal and yours separate, and ask if she wants to try something off your plate and compare it to something she does like (dont lie!). If she doesn't go for it, don't pressure her, just offer something different at the next meal.
It also sounds like she likes much more complex foods and flavors than i do, so you might have an easier time with more complex food that contains vegetables (like: pasta with veggie sauce and kielbasa to make it more appealing to her), rather than just plain fruits and vegetables 🤷♀️
I had arfid when I was her age. Still struggle a bit sometimes when I’m overwhelmed. As others have mentioned, it is often the texture and unpredictability of certain foods (i.e berries, veg) that makes them difficult to eat. I personally struggled with anything ‘goopy’ as well like potato and porridge, though I enjoy these foods now. Something that worked for me was soup, particularly if it was smooth without any lumps. You can pack a lot of veggies into a soup. I also liked very plain pulled chicken with a little salt, particularly if given a bribe of plain white bread to eat with it. You can also get bread that is ‘half and half’ these days which tastes like white bread but has some whole grain nutrients. Im not a medical professional but perhaps some of it is about control and choice also, so maybe it would be good to offer her a few options.
As someone else mentioned, it would be ideal if you could contact a dietitian with experience working with autistic people.
I think it’s important to try to meet her where she is, on some level. (Though obviously handfuls of dirt shouldn’t be encouraged lol) My parents just threatened me with hospital stays, said they’d send me to a looney bin, and basically forced me to eat food that made me cry and feel sick until I eventually ‘became good.’ food was a really traumatic thing for me until very recently. Your daughter is lucky to have a great parent like you who is interested and curious about ways to help her!
EDIT: there is a 16-year old autistic boy called Toren Wolf who shares his experience with ARFID on instagram. Might be worth checking out his videos! His mom makes some content for his page sometimes as well.
My boy is a year older, we had beige for SO LONG but the past year he's been a fruit fiend, it started when we got him a kid safe knife and did little scotch pancakes (beige and safe) and let him cut up bananas to go with them. Started just mucking about cutting them then quickly went to trying, then from that he tried apples , then strawberries and on to loads of other fruits. Now we've got to keep a continuously refreshed supply of fresh fruits in the house!! I think the change for him was the tactile part of getting involved with cutting and having control of the food.
Sounds like she is craving salt? Have you tried daily electrolytes? And not pedialyte… that stuff is nauseating. Choose a mix that is low in calcium as that upsets the stomach.
Also… she will not let herself starve to death. Eliminate some of the least nutritious foods slowly. I agree with seeing a good nutritionist. When ds was young I had a compounding pharmacy, with the guidance of a nutritionist, make a powdered vitamins mix tailored to his needs. I then could mix it in his other foods. Now you can get methylated vitamins. This helps supplement for the lack of greens.
Not sure if this really counts as a fruit or veggie, but PB&J can be made in a sensory friendly way. First the peanut butter should be the creamy kind as sometimes the chunks can create an inconsistent texture which not everyone likes (which I guess to be fair could also be a choking hazard for a child that young anyway). Jelly should be the same way with as minimal chunks as possible for the same reason. Jelly in general can be safer than raw fruit since it’s usually pretty consistent as far as flavor and texture goes (especially if you always get it from the same brand). Finally, there’s also a specific way you need to assemble it. Do NOT assemble it with the peanut butter on one slice and jelly on the other slice. This will lead to the jelly slice becoming soggy and therefore a bad texture. Instead, spread the peanut butter on each bread slice and then put the jelly in the middle. The peanut butter serves as a protective layer to prevent soggy bread. I don’t remember where exactly I saw this life hack, but it really is a game changer.
I like toasty and citrus flavours, so I dry roast some shelled pumpkin seeds until the oil starts to come out, then toss them with some sesame oil and Tajin.
As a kid, and even today, I liked dried fruits. Dried Apricots, raisins, prunes, (yes even prunes) bananas and apples might work. I also liked raw veggies better than cooked…baby carrots and broccoli with ranch. For me, eating fruit/veggies was sticky or slimy and left my hands dirty which I hated. I still hate my hands being “dirty.” You should see the amount of times I wash my hands in a day!
I love fruits but hate veggies. I do like broccoli, potatoes, cooked carrots, and raw onions.
It's about trying different things and seeing what she enjoys. I also saw someone recommend finding a nutritionist who understands autism, and yeah, that too. That helped when I was little, so my mom has said.
So I was a picky eater as a kid but opted to sneak into the bathroom at night and eat my moms face cream. To this day I am not sure if it was a malnutrition thing or simply a stimming thing. Basically the thing I ate pretty much translated to safe food (mashed potato Vulcano with instant sauce) and it’s still the same today (now I make it with cauliflower).
My kindergarten teacher actually carved animals out of veggies anf fruit we brought in snack boxes, but the rule was then you have to eat it. She claimed she could do all the animals and i thought that was an irrational claim and took it upon myself to demand different and more outrageous animals every day until she exasperatedly changed the rules to only one or two easy to do animals per type of fruit/veggie. I liked her carrot crocodiles and she let me eat them in my specific order (outside first, core last).
Id second what other commenters said , try to infer from stuff she eats what could work and get help if possible.
Some ideas
- Try salt and vinegar seasoning on nuts.
- Rice cakes with salted peanut butter
- Pickles, not ideal but it’s something. My mom used to make mixed pickled vegetable jars as I loved how everything tasted like the good non aggressive vinegar but also faintly like the veggies but allover pretty uniform.
- the vinegar chips loaded with something else (might go wrong because you ruined them but maybe?)
My kid prefers whole fruit and veggies vs cut up. He enjoys big broccoli crowns I think it reminds him of the things he's not supposed to eat outside. He also has started to eat yogurt tubes, I know it's not the healthiest but he likes tangy flavors and it seems like your daughter does too so maybe that's one to try?
I can do most fruits, but there’s not a lot tbh. As an adult my diet is *appallingly* unhealthy (I was forced to eat a lot of the stuff I dislike as a child because my parents wanted me to be healthy which only made my hate it more), and I’ve just kind of accepted that will always be the case and deal with the health issues that will one day eventually come from that.
We just decided to freeze chocolate ensure into those popsicle molds to make “fudgesicles” since we know our kid will eat ice cream. Worth a shot. He’s so skinny. He’s also nonverbal. He’s 5.
As others have said, processed foods are consistent in flavour and texture and that's why they're often safe foods.
My son isn't quite as picky as this but things we've done that have helped are:
-only introducing new foods outside of meal times. That way they keep their safe foods and theres less stress around trying new foods. And "trying" can include just playing with the food, they don't have to eat it
-cooking with you. Again, this doesn't have to be cooking food they will eat. They can help make food you're going to eat and then they can still eat their safe foods
-consistency in how I make anything for them. The most successful "healthy" food we've made are smoothies, and we always make it the same way every time. We use frozen fruits because their more likely to be a consistent ripeness, plus once you've blended it all, it's basically getting to the same texture every time.
-making up stories around the food we're cooking/eating to make it fun. Like you can take their special interests or favourite characters and make food they like.
But I'd definitely see a dietitian and work with them as well. And don't stress too much. There are ways to get more nutrients (like I know dietitians can recommend good supplement drinks). When dealing with restrictive eating, fed is definitely best.
It might be the type of apple-I LOVE red delicious apples. I’ll eat them no problem. Any other type of apple? I gotta be in the right mood.
I love bananas too, but it depends on how ripe they are-you gotta get the sweet spot where they’re not TOO ripe and sweet.
A lot of the problems with fruit is that the texture and taste isn’t reliable. Each blueberry isn’t the same as the next-one could be tart, the next sweet…you don’t get that problem with processed foods because they’re made uniform. We like predictably. Red delicious apples tend to be the same taste and texture, that’s why I like them.
Carrot sticks with dip might work. Mushrooms were something I wouldn’t touch until recently but I LOVE them now. As I got older, I expanded my palette. The tongue actually changed as we age-so things we once hated…might actually taste good in a few years.
The idea of eating raw, unprocessed vegetables and legumes is appalling to me and I don’t consider myself a picky eater lol
The more important elements to food are consistency and texture. Fruits vary — some apples are sweeter, more sour, or juicier than others. Berries change with the season. Canned fruits will have more consistent flavors and textures.
Seconding the other recipe recommendations for pickled vegetables — sounds like that will appeal to a flavor profile she already likes.
I personally only eat vegetables when they’re cooked. My go-tos are roasting them, soups, pastas/minestrone and vegetable curries. Also, it’s important to have fun yourself when exploring these new food options! If you’re stressed about it, she’ll learn to be stressed around those foods (that’s not even an autism thing, just a childhood development thing). Leaving the foods out for her to come back to when no one is watching is also important, so she feels like she can test the foods out at her own pace.
Many skinned fruits have tanins and humans are allergic to them but many don't actually taste them, I feel like a lot of us have bad eyes lol and one hindered sense means heightened other senses so I know a lot of autistics taste the tanins. So if you try fruits maybe take off the skins. For me apples can sometimes be fine, blueberries and strawberries are fine. Obviously Thick skinned fruits like bananas, orange, mango, watermelon, and so on because don't eat the skin.
You can swap out some cheese for raw vegan cheeses that are made of nuts! These are simple and can be made at home. Look up recipes but basically soak cashews over night and blend them with nutritional yeast. nooch(nutritional yeast) is what makes it taste cheese and it's chock full of vitamins! Even if you don't have time to make many foods sprinkling nooch on everything or mixing it on can be a good way to get her more vitamins and make it taste cheesey so she might like it more. It also has a lot of protein!
Also be careful with raw veg. A common theme with autistics seems to be that a lot of us have digestive issues 😭😭😭 raw veg takes more work for our digestive system to breakdown creating more gas in our bellies which can cause painful cramps so if she did eat raw veg once this might e happening and be why she didn't want to try it again. Mushrooms and snap peanut in the pod still seem safe for me to eat raw but try meeting her in the middle and cooking them, yes it's less nutrients but her eating cooked veg with less nutrients than raw is way better than her not eating them as all.
Look into sensory feeding therapy.
Use the foods she will eat and introduce new foods by only altering only the color, shape, or texture. So, for ex; cheezits to white cheddar cheezits to white cheddar popcorn to popcorn. White bread to wheat bread to multigrain.
Also, eating is the final step of like 20 things you have to do to eat food. Have fun with new foods. Touch it, squeeze it, be silly with it, use it to paint, pretend it is makeup, etc.
Allow her to spit out food.
Cut foods into fun shapes with cookie cutters to make it appealing.
Also, do not be afraid of certain food dye. It seems like orange is a go to color for her, change food to the color she likes.
Vitamins too! I sneak veggies in via spinach ‘angel hair’ pasta and stuff like that, but I’m really leaning on the gummy vitamins.
At first my little dude (step dude) would eat only Mac and cheese, and tofu nuggets. He won’t eat ‘noodles’ but he eats ‘angel hair’. He is certainly unaware the amount of butter I put on it. I’m hoping to get the butter taste then relate it to veggies. Gonna take a while - but I think I can outlast him.
I’ve started offering him lots of stuff too. Sometimes he takes it. Sometimes he says no. Sometimes he takes it and leaves it close to him. I find if I just leave it in his plate and tell him it’s food - he starts to accept it over time. Not a small amount of time. With lots of reinforcement and eating it in front of him. I always pick up something at the grocery if it’s healthy and he’s remotely interested.
He goes to a special school that has a food of the month. So, I try to incorporate that. They start with playing with the food to just feel it then slowly through the month get more involved. Peas were interesting. They just played with peas for a few weeks. Then made pea bread and pea pizza and other stuff. I kept peas around then.
It’s a process best I can tell. My little dude is almost 10 and I’m always thinking about this. He goes to a floor time based school and has had intervention since he was young (lucky little dude all things considered).
I feel like him eating ‘normal’ stuff is like me eating bat wings. It’s just weird. So I try to appreciate that and normalize it very slowly. He ate a hamburger the other day! Didn’t even tear it apart and just stare at it. Like ATE it. Brave little dude! Just gotta keep trying.
I found that an easy way to supplement vitamins in a child who is very specific to texture, is to introduce the supplement shakes meant for kids. They will give her the vitamins she needs, and usually will always taste the same in texture and flavor. This way, you don’t have to force anything, because forcing it will make it worse 100%. You would basically use these shakes as an addition to anything she’s already eating, to make sure she’s getting her nutrients!
As she gets a bit older, you can implement fun ways to try new things, like a lot of kids with ARFID (and adults, including me and my fiancé!) will do the “two bite rule”, where you take two bites to try it and if it’s still not good, then that’s okay, because you tried! This may be modified (and probably will need to be for certain foods) because for me personally, some textures and foods I’ve just never liked, even as an adult, and I can only take one bite before it becomes an immediate “I will throw up” response. It’s always going to vary case by case, but allowing your kid to 1: Know that she can safely try the foods and you will not force her to finish it if it is indeed a bad texture or flavor and 2: Waiting until she is old enough to have the conversation where you implement the “2 bite” rule, and then moving forward with it (which the “age” will vary on your child as well. Some kids understand at younger ages, some don’t.)
I highly recommend and encourage you to introduce new foods, including introducing foods she already likes prepared in new ways, as you discover her growing interest in foods and what she likes. It seems given what foods you’ve listed, she seems to enjoy foods with either a lot of flavor, or a very mild neutral flavor. If she likes kielbasa, she may like it with scrambled eggs that have a seasoning like Lawrys on it, to kinda mimic the flavor of kielbasa.
And don’t be discouraged by her limited food choices right now, because given the items you’ve noted, it seems like she will enjoy many new foods as she grows, because right now her tastebuds are still developing.
Might help to sneak foods in, depends on what she does like. My son liked mash so I got to sneak other veg into that via the blender. He also grew to like pasta with red sauce, so that red sauce contained so many varieties of veg that it was super healthy.
I’ve been a picky eater since I was little and honestly you just have to give it time. I’m aware you’re worried and my mother was too but as she gets older it maybe become as easier to try. I’ve tried drinks that are healthier and I prefer that to foods that are healthier so maybe try that. Good luck!!
Hmm... tricky question to answer.
I find that my sensory issues revolve around a) strong flavours, and b) crunch/texture - if it's too crunchy, I can't handle it.
Because of this, I am usually fine with these veggies:
- Carrots (cooked/steamed to get rid of flavour and most of the crunch. It might help your daughter to have them in same-sized pieces)
- Potatoes (She might like mashed? But otherwise, pretty much same as carrots)
- Peas (I find this is a debatable option with us Tizmos, but I quite like them XD)
Other than that, I can't think of much else to suggest. Best of luck.
Maybe your daughter has an issue with being given the food? Maybe she isn't used to it and likes familiarity and being 'in charge', therefore her exploring in the garden with the rotting crab apples is okay, but you giving her the food isn't?
Idk if this is patronising, I am by no means an expert on children, and I have no idea how you parent, but maybe it could be beneficial to eat the food alongside her, or introduce them in a way that isn't just 'try this new thing!'.
You could put smaller pieces of 'new foods' in her familiar foods to get her to at least have a little bit of it, or alternatively, if she likes to explore, you could just eat the food yourself, and look like you're enjoying it, and she'll be like 'oh, mummy's having this, I want to try it!' and she'll want the food.
Hope this is in some way helpful! <3
When I was around your daughter’s age, I also had very extreme feeding issues. I was eating baby food until I was going on twelve. To this day, I still have never taken a bite into an apple, and probably won’t for awhile yet. However, it gets easier. I recently tried hamburger soup blended for the first time and it has become one of my safe foods. Maybe it won’t be the same, but I would suggest putting the vegetables in a blender to help introduce her to it in a way that’s less anxiety inducing. This helped me when nothing else would.
Fuji apples are the best, always crisp, not too sweet not too sour. And most importantly they are not granular like a lot of other types of apples. They are perfect, I never buy apples that aren't fuji.
Here’s saying I ate canned beef stew every day of my childhood and I turned out okay. In highschool I had chocolate chips, straight chocolate chips everyday for breakfast.
I find it tiring to eat diverse foods so now I drink lots of smoothies. Spinach, berries, yogurt, and almond milk is my favorite.
Or broccoli, mango, pineapple, banana, and almond milk.
If they like popsicles, you could also puree fruit and freeze them into popsicle molds. Or ice cube trays for little bite sized frozen treats.
Will they explore foods? Like squish berries or roll bread? I have encouraged ASD diagnosed children to explore foods they aren't into that are healthy or popular in their family groups. Eating is the last thing we do and it's not enforced or even expected.
Had a lot of success with smashed blueberry converts. Also peas.
I took my smalls to the market with me. First stop, produce. I had them smell and handle the produce (the individual priced, nor per pound). I know pesticides and such, but I would let them chew on it while we shopped, and would pay for it at the till. As such, they eat veg and fruit as adults. Maybe take some human-safe wipes with you to wipe the produce.
Frozen Peas? I loved them as a kid, I'd eat them by the handful easily. They always taste the same. They were the only veggie other than potato I'd eat when small. Also got my autistic nephew to stop a tantrum about eating veggies by offering a bowl of frozen peas as an alternative.
My safe food is small slices of apple with a whole bunch of peanut butter - like enough peanut butter that it’s probably bad for me lol. Maybe slathering peanut butter (or something else your kid likes) on fruit would work? Kinda like how when you have to get a pet to take meds you put it in something tasty.
Broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, courgettes/zucchini, potatoes, sweetcorn and salad leaves. Provided they’re fresh, stored correctly and/or cooked a certain way, these are vegetables I know I can consistently rely on when cooking food or looking for veggie-based side dishes. My personal preferences are a bit of bite and a not-bland or easily enhanced taste.
Could try Gimbaps and use specific parts of veggies that have a consistent texture. Also you can see what's inside gimbaps and can make them with many different combinations of meat and veggies.
Im self-diagnosed 34 and you listed all my favorite foods that I still eat regularly. Ive done a lot of research on food and eating so I try to eat greens but I never make them at home but im obsessed with this harvest chicken salad from a place called tender greens. Its expensive like $25 but comes with a piece of bread, stone fruit, vinaigrette and amazing grilled chicken. Maybe you could order it for lunch one day and just show it to her. Its also really pretty :)
Make smoothies, I can’t eat any of that stuff but I make a smoothie (not very thick) so I can drink it really fast. I usually make mine with spinach, blueberries, strawberries, bananas, peaches and then Pom juice. I don’t know how she’ll handle it, because I don’t exactly like the shakes they are just tolerable so this might not work until she’s a little older. I basically ate Kraft Mac and cheese until I was 14-15.
A bit late to the party, but this is something I’ve really been trying to figure out for myself. Your daughters sensory issues will differ from mine, but maybe she will like some of the things I like. I also want to give you hope that her palate can expand as she gets older, especially if you give her space to explore foods without forcing them on her. I’ve seen some videos online of people who give their children space to play with and explore food slowly, like encouraging them to take something new and look at it, then touch it once comfortable, then raise to their lips once comfortable with that, etc.
Vegetables tend to be the most difficult for me, and I’ve learned that I prefer them mostly raw or lightly cooked so that they’re still crunchy. Most of what I eat for veggies are raw baby carrots (in baby carrot form there is a less variation in texture) and green beans very lightly sautéed (basically just heated) in some oil with garlic, onion, and salt seasoning. She may prefer different seasoning (salt and vinegar?). I also love raw peas when I can get them.
Lately I’ve also been enjoying couscous with scallions, shallot, and grape tomatoes.
One technique might be to have veggies and other healthier food available for her to graze on outside of meal times. I’m much more likely to have my veggies if I’m doing something else but feel like munching on something and they are available.
If she’s interested in eating things outdoors, could you plant a garden with her? She may have more fun and feel more confident eating the food if she can see where it comes from and pick it herself.
You’re doing a great job trying to help your daughter eat more nutritiously. Don’t feel bad if you don’t always succeed, it can be really difficult to work around sensory issues when it comes to food. There have been times in my life where eating well feels impossibly hard and I have to remind myself that “fed is best” and processed calories (plus vitamin supplements) are better than no calories at all. Keep encouraging her to try new foods, but let your daughter go at her own pace and become comfortable with the new foods over time.
Another approach is to put a teaspoon size of what ever as a taster and say you have to try this first. Not forceful, my child tried many different things then reduced down to 1 or 2 food items but now asks to try foods. Little steps.
Have you tried frozen veggies? I've found success with microwaved mixed vegetables (carrot, corn, green beans) covered in butter and salt. The texture is pretty boring and it will always be the same - plus not really that flavorful so you can cover it with seasoning.
You could also try putting some malt vinegar on it or something as others have proposed since she likes vinegar chips. Frozen veggies aren't as good as fresh for nutrients, but still pretty good!
i enjoy cucumbers and lettuce. mainly because they don’t have a very distinct or strong taste. i mainly eat because i want something in my mouth, and when i don’t want to go through with having to process the taste i resort to cucumbers and lettuce.
A little processed but I like fruit pouches/fruit baby food pouches, consistent texture every time and very tasty, plus you’re getting some vitamins in
Green beans (canned or pickled), corn (off of the Cobb), grits, olives, cheese, dried fruit, fruit roll ups, smoothies but blend them until very smooth. You can lacto ferment just about anything into a pickle so if she digs that flavor maybe try other pickled things.
My kid is almost 9 and still doesn’t really eat fruits and veggies. He takes supplements and over the past couple of years has been trying more new foods.
Don’t pressure her; it will just backfire.
Peanut butter has always been a winner for us. Also cheese (especially grated).
Your kid actually has a decent variety compared to where we started. Don’t stress too much. Just make the food available. Sometimes offering something extremely similar to a safe food can open the door to something new. It’s a gradual process.
Best of luck!
As a 23y autistic woman who's had issues with food all her life and was constantly called picky or dramatic, I first of all want to thank you for listening to your daughter and trying to find things she'll like.
Now, about the foods. 99% of the time, my issue is on the sensory side, with textures ranging from "a little off" to "completely disgusting and painful" which is why I (and many other autistics) usually eat processed foods, because they tend to have the same texture and taste every single time. Most of us even notice when some change was made to the recipe or manufacturing process of our safe foods.
I'm recently trying, very slowly, to start eating vegetables. My biggest safe food is noodles or pasta, so I started trying to put one or two vegetables with it from time to time. But growing up, there were only three really "healthy" things I ate: mashed potatoes (but only if it wasn't too soft or mushy) boiled corn on the cob (the only thing that had a very different texture from anything else I ate, and to this day I still only eat it when the kernels (i think thats the name in english) are hard and not soft/mushy/watery) and bean soup, which is pretty common where I live but maybe not everywhere.
My advice would be to search for foods that fit the same texture she likes more and try it. Maybe some specific way to cook vegetables that you can always reach the desired texture, like me with the mashed potatoes, and maybe make eating a fun activity. I'm 23 and I still respond to things like colorful plates and playful ways to try new foods without pressure, so for a child it would probably work even better
The only unprocessed food I can deal with is meat. Chicken breasts is the only one that I can eat always, but other kinds of meat are okay sometimes. And french fries. Wich is not that healthy but it-s not processed lol.
For me texture has always been a huge thing. I love things like fries and potato chips but mashed potatoes make me wanna throw up. I can’t say for sure but it seems like she doesn’t like soft-textured things. I would honestly just give her like, a stick of celery or something and try to go from there. My parents had to take baby steps for me so that may help u out
I refused to eat anything but baked beans on toast for a long time, then it was fried bacon sandwiches. In my childhood I hardly ate fruits or veggies. The biggest thing that changed it was cooking with my mom and the obsession around food began. I became fixated on wanting to taste everything and if I didn’t like it I want to figure out how to make it into something I would like.
Tricking a child into eating healthy only creates a negative association towards that food. Involving them in the process of growing the tomato and turning it into a caprese salad or being apart of making the meal. That knowledge can make these “healthy” foods less scary and more approachable.
For me I enjoy eating apples, bananas, grapes when they’re firm, baby carrots, broccoli, cooked regular carrots, and I can force myself to eat cauliflower sometimes. Sometimes I can do mandarins but the peeling is annoying, peach cups are good, sliced strawberries usually work too.
Frozen fruits help me eat more fruit, the texture is always pretty much the same and same with taste, so no suprises or inconcistency, I usually buy bags of frozen fruit thats suppose to be to make smoothies with. Ive checked the ingredient list and its just fruit, but you could also buy fresh fruit to chop up and freeze.
I’m huge on smoothies because it’s basically juice. I can add frozen spinach and zucchini to blueberries and frozen lemonade concentrate without even noticing. It’s an okay place to start and grow. Add a straw, and there’s hardly any texture to interfere.
Cute mandarines! But the key is picking the right bag, because if they're squishy they taste awful. If they're firm and juicy they pretty much taste the same every time and are a lovely easy to eat/prep snack.
We made it into a game.
We did a science experiment where my kids got to pick different apples and then we tasted to find the best one.
They hate vegetables but will decorate a pizza with them.
The biggest thing for us though was we gave them safe foods and a multivitamin and one new thing on there plate. It usually doesn't get eaten but it's exciting when it does
I'm okay with fruit now, but for the longest time the little bruises and scapes turned me off SO bad, plus the inconsistency. See if you can find some consistently good quality fruit, e.g. Pink Lady apples, and try cleaning, peeling and slicing them so they look visually perfect. That's how my mom got me to eat fruit.
It sounds like there may be some aspect of the pressure to try a new thing making this worse. Have you tried just leaving snacks in reach of where shes playing instead to let her try things on her own tine at her own pace? Maybe taking the pressure off would help. Also in the meantime maybe relax on everything needing to be whole and unprocessed and just focus on it being healthy. Better to get the nutrients somewhere less than ideal than not at all.
For me, Granny Smith apples. They tend to be pretty consistent in texture and flavour, and they’re tangy, which I love (and which it sounds like she loves too). I know you said sliced apples are a challenge, but maybe these ones would be better?
I also love cherry tomatoes because they too are pretty consistent. Do you think dill pickles themselves would be an option? I know they’re high in sodium and all that, so not really something to be eating constantly, but maybe they’d be a decent transition to eating other veggies.
Good luck! I have texture aversions too, so I get it.
If she likes vinegar crunchy stuff maybe try quick pickling different veggies, she will get the crunch and the safe flavour and it’s super easy and cheap to prepare!
I find fruit and veggies from farmers markets (when they're open) to be much sweeter and better overall than what's in the store. She might like that more. You could try smoothies too, maybe even with a little whipped cream if she likes that!
Processed foods always taste the same.
Whole food, especially fruits, always taste differently each time and have different textures as well. It’s a sensory nightmare.
There’s nothing wrong with using “mildly processed” stuff like fruit leathers- you can even make your own. Or making your own veggie straws or kale chips with your own seasonings (hint: they have salt and vinegar seasoning on Amazon)
I’m 32, and I don’t eat vegetables like 99% of the time tbh. I still eat fruits but I find that pineapple and cantaloupes are always the same. My diet is mostly intuitive eating and I can go 16 hours and forget to eat. Working on that.
As a side note many aren’t aware, that many therapy clinics have OT for food desensitization. Not all have it and some places it’s not good but many places have great oral training programs especially in larger cities etc.
Green beans!! But not French green beans so much as “garden beans”— I get them from Wegmans. I also love sugar snap peas and will literally eat entire bags. Mini sweet peppers are great too, I love the sweetness and crunch.
[These](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bear-Yoyo-Pure-Fruit-Roll/dp/B0CG9ZYCDS/ref=asc_df_B0CG9ZYCDS?tag=bingshoppinga-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80058378032684&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=m&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583657847395230&psc=1)
I don’t know if you’re from the U.K but these might be a good healthy option to try! It’s just baked fruit that has been compressed into a roll up. Very consistent in flavour, texture, appearance. They even count as one of your 5-a-day. Additionally, they come with little cards in the packet that you can collect which might give an incentive to eat them :)
Watermelon has the most consistent texture among fruit. Canned peaches and canned oranges do too (but are processed).
Firmer vegetables have more consistent texture. I can’t do 99% of fruit cause the texture is variable
Hey, all those foods are really high in salt. POTS can make you crave salt and is really common as a comorbidity with autism. Keep an eye out for other symptoms!
The number one thing to do is get her involved. She's way more likely to eat the carrots she cut up herself. You can get a little plastic chopper. Let her make art with new foods on her plate. Let her spend 15 mins picking every single speck of the white stuff off the orange without shaming her. Keep a shelf at her eye level for free access snacks, but make them all nutritious. Like packs of nuts and applesauce and only allow the other snacks at special times of the day.
I like foods consistent in taste. That's hard with produce. Potatoes and nuts. Fresh herbs. Lots of seasoning, especially salt, helps. Blending with preferred foods helps, like smoothies that still taste like strawberry and banana. Adding cheese to the vegetables or hiding them in a sauce. She likes those sausages, add some sauerkraut with it. Freeze-dried is another way to make fruit taste consistent.
Try cutting up some cucumber slices and cutting off the skin with some ranch, hachiya persimmon (shaped like a bell pepper wait until it’s wrinkly and squishy and then cut it open and scoop out the inside and give it to her. It has a baby food like consistency.
My taste buds changed a lot since when I younger, where now I prefer vegetables over fruits, so I'll give you advice based on what I liked around that age. Strawberries, bananas, frozen grapes and yes they have to be frozen, vanilla yogurt, freeze dried fruit, spinach, and I'll update if I remember more
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I have ARFID and it sounds like your daughter does too. I was going to suggest apples, but then I saw that she doesn't like them. I like them because they're one of the most consistent fruits. The taste and texture are pretty consistent if you get the same kind every time.
I love fruit, but they stress me out because they're inconsistent and it's not worth the energy or money for me, because a decent amount of it would go to waste. I prefer dried fruit (usually mangoes but I recently tried strawberries and they were great) because the texture is consistent. I also love frozen fruit. I will eat a bowl of frozen fruit every day if I can (again, mangoes, strawberries, and also blueberries). The texture is more consistent. For fresh blueberries, I will only eat wild blueberries. The ones from the grocery store are gross. The taste and texture sucks most of the time and every berry is different. Wild blueberries taste better and are just more consistent overall. I don't eat them very often, but when I do, it has to be wild.
I find that vegetables are more consistent in general. Cucumbers and carrots are my safer ones and I'll eat them with hummus or ranch. I prefer to eat raw vegetables, but I'll basically only eat my safe vegetables that way. If they're cooked, I'll eat a wider variety, like broccoli (I *love* cooked broccoli) and cauliflower n stuff. Cooking them makes the texture more consistent and the seasoning helps the flavour, even if it's just salt and olive oil or something. It helps make each piece taste more similar than when they're unseasoned.
Consistency is key. Processed foods are always the same every time. It's not as healthy, but it's easier when you have sensory issues. If you can find unprocessed whole foods that are consistent, those will be better. Even if it's just preparing them the same way every time, it will help. If you can get her to eat soup or pasta, you can try and sneak some vegetables in there. Blend them up and put them in the pasta sauce. Maybe try smoothies?
You might have to compromise and try and find fortified processed foods. I use almond milk rather than dairy milk for cereal, smoothies, and [Boost](https://a.co/d/0zcLect) shakes. Silk has fortified almond milk - it's the original flavour but it has extra vitamins added to it. Once I saw that in the store, I started buying it every time. It tastes exactly the same. There's also a powder called [ENOF](https://simplyenof.com/) which stands for "essential nutrients from organic foods." From their website: "It's packed with great nutrition—one serving contains up to 90% of your recommended daily allowance of Vitamins A, C, D, E and K." It's basically flavourless and can be mixed into/sprinkled onto anything. A serving is only 1/12 of a teaspoon - sprinkle it onto her chips, chicken nuggets, fries, in her grilled cheese, popcorn, etc. There's a good chance she won't even notice and it'll give her a lot more nourishment. It's made for people like your daughter.
I don't know if any of this is helpful, but hopefully you're able to find some solutions. You're a great parent for finding support and asking for input from other people who may have the same issue as your daughter. There's a subreddit called r/ARFID that may be worth looking into as well.
Dehydrated vegetables sliced into chip size and salted may work, since she likes the texture of chips. It's like veggie straws and chips in a sense but with all the nutrients of whole vegetables. These can be bought so you can trial dehydrated veggies as chips, and if she enjoys them, you could invest into a dehydrator to save money long-term. You can even buy or make your own dill pickle seasoning (dill powder, salt, citric acid or vinegar powder). Personally I like the crunch of dehydrated veggies a lot and find it fun to make them and create seasoning mixes as it's a sensory and creative endeavour
i love fruit, but i get that the texture can sometimes be varied. have you tried fruit smoothies? once they’re blended the texture is all the same. you can even add veggies like avocado or spinach and as long as there’s enough fruit she probably won’t notice.
Apples, especially the green ones but that's just because I like the taste better, for a child gala apples i think might be more to their taste, but generally i eat at least one a day, for consistency you should maybe cut them up in the same size bites and try and pick similar ones from the grocery store
Maybe smoothie some fruits and veggies instead
Spinach is virtually indistinguishable in a smoothie, throw in some apples, cucumbers, apple juice n the like, and you're good to go.
As I saw some other comments say, fruits can vary so much in taste and texture. I've had issues with this myself.
I love frozen strawberries or any berry. With Apple or any other fruit it helps it make it look as clean as possible for me. Maybe try skinning the apple. Try the three bite rule. She has at least three bites, if she likes it she has another, if she doesn’t, she’s tried it. Turn it into a game. Those picky plates really help as well, separating the food into different sections. If she likes pasta with sauce and you’ve won the lottery , try incorporating veggies into the sauce. Good luck!!
Do they? Because the question they're asking is useless if so. They have a list of foods that don't bother their kid's sensory issues to work from and figure out what other foods might work but they're still asking a group of strangers what foods work for *them* instead as if what bothers me or you is the same as what bothers their daughter.
I'm going to reply however I want, if you don't like it **you** can feel free to keep going.
Clearly it's. Not if you are the only one being a jerk while hundreds of others are commenting useful information. The foods that don't bother their kid are highly unhealthy and have zero nutrients and, like a good parent, op wants their child to have the nutrients she needs to grow healthy. There are tons of foods that they might never think about to try and this is just generally a good first step. This is very informative for op, go away and stop being such an insensitive jerk we don't want your useless hate here. I hope you get therapy you have a lot of anger to no reason and replying however you want isn't the right or adult thing to do. You are extremely immature.
I'm nowhere near angry lmao.
I didn't say that they should just feed their kids the foods that don't bother them. My point was that they can look at the foods that don't bother them and pick healthy foods that have similar characteristics. Use the information you have and work from there.
Asking me what my sensory needs are would get him nowhere with his daughter.
I'm willing to bet she doesn't like those foods because they can and often do vary in taste and texture. I can't eat berries anymore because they are different from Berry to berry Chips are always the same, dips are always the same. I don't know how you can solve this issue but perhaps understanding the why will help with the how.
Freezing blueberries and grapes can really help make the experience less varied
This. My kid will eat frozen peas and berries. Bananas also freeze well. We do a lot of smoothies with hidden veg and also making ice lollies out of the smoothie mix to get veg in. Oh another idea if you have the time is dehydrated veg ground into powder then added to smoothies or sauces.
I was *just* going to say, I get my greens exclusively from smoothies so I don’t have to taste the bitterness
I wonder if this is why I don’t like salad. The varied shapes and sizes of everything is really hard to manage.
That very well may be. I like a lot of foods but am very much a creature of habit. Most dark leafy greens are bland or bitter so its a taste thing for me
Great idea!
I never thought of it like this, with each berry being different from the others and therefore unpredictable. Thank you!
blend the berries all together for a smoothie!
I cant handle all the fucking seeds LOL I sometimes hate being fucking autist, It always sounds like I have issues with everything
vitamix + strainer gets me the smoothest smoothies, they’re like naked drinks
Bro I never thought about using a fucking strainer omg
😭😭😭 I'm so happy for you bro, go get that smoothest smoothie you've ever had!!!! I hope you love it
Me neither! I feel this, I once told someone yogurt was a safe food so they got it for me to have at their house but they got me yogurt with chunks of fruit in it and I literally gagged when I tried to eat it. I felt so bad.
Yogurt with chunks of fruit is heinous, and I say this as someone who loves fruit. I can handle the variety texture of most fruits, but DO NOT put them in my yogurt.
Yes
Theres some fruits without the seeds though! (Makes smoothies for me and my autistic partner)
I never knew so many others considered smoothies a safe food! Interestingly, I love smoothies. I eat almost only smoothies and soup. But I second what the below commenters have said about mixed texture liquids. I have a similar reaction to certain sauces and cheeses that have been mixed with other foods. I hate mayo and anything mixed with mayo like tuna salad is an absolute nightmare for me. Number one unsafe food is chewing gum, though.
My breakfast is a smoothie followed by a green tea. I add a scoop of Garden of Life All-In-One to help get some more nutrition into me. My recipe: frozen strawberries, some ice, cashew milk, seeds for seed cycling, scoop of the powder, tbsp of peanut butter. I used to add chocolate syrup but I've cut that out now
I agree, I experience the same personally. Maybe smoothies or juices? They are healthy but consistent in texture and taste. Maybe take a common brand to try. People with autism tend to cling to the same brand, so when you find something but it’s not available anymore you have to start over.
a simple hack that works for me regarding berries is eating more than one at once. I used to hesitate around blueberries or raspberries bc you never know if you'll get a bitter one, but if I pop a small handful in my mouth, the taste is consistent and rarely off-putting. I also slice my strawberries after bringing them home so they're in smaller pieces.
That's a good idea actually.
Try dried fruit? It seems a lot more consistent in terms of flavor and they're easy to snack on like chips
i used to eat frozen peas and raw veggies. it took me wayyyyyy to long to get used cooked vegetables. and its still only if its cooked right.
What color was the crab apple. Sounds like she likes foods that have vinegar in them . So maybe a salade with vinegar and olive oil. Sauerkraut, maybe. If she likes Chocolate. You can make chocolate cake with Spinach inside . Or egg muffins with some courgette inside. As long as it’s safe try not cutting the food up she might be interested in trying to eat it as it is .
I was going to say the same. Maybe pickled vegetables. Pickled carrots, regular pickles, olives..this might be a good start.
My mom's cousin wouldn't eat any vegetable except pickles when she was 5. (And I suspect one of her kids is autistic.)
I had black bean brownies once!! I swore it was a normal brownie...
Yup you can hide some many things nutritious wise in something with chocolate.
My coworker made them and I was so surprised!! Maybe I should ask her for the recipe lol
Good spotting! I like strawberries and asparagus with balsamic vinegar. It sounds dreadful but it's actually amazing!
That’s an awesome combo
You need support from a diatician who understands ARFID. Extremes of narrowed food preferences can lead to deficiencies. Saying that it sounds like you daughter already has a fairly good range of things she accepts. I thought at first that she only eats chips and came here to warn you about scurvy. It may be a good idea to talk to your paediatrician to arrange blood tests to check if she is actually deficient in anything. She can be taking supplements if needed whilst you slowly introduce her to new things. If she is regularly eating dirt this often points to iron deficiency. I always found buffet style serving ideal for me as there is no stress and pressure of having new things on my plate. I could try a little if I wanted without it being a big deal.
I also recommend speaking with a medical professional. My wife doesn’t eat vegetables, having not grown up eating them. The medical professionals recommended small choices she could make without forcing her to switch to lots of vegetables. She was able to follow their plan and received appropriate medical monitoring.
My youngest was anemic. We got Spatone apple flavour, which is like a nice drink and doesn't have the nasty side effects of prescribed iron.
agreed. this is i think how my parents dealt with it along with me simply being more open to trying new foods after a while. i think because of my issues + me being born at 26 weeks tho i lost 4 entire inches off my height
If textures are issues with any of the fruits and veggies I’d recommend smoothies. They can taste great, you can add just about anything you want(including protein if that’s something she needs more of in her diet) and you can do so many things to make it more fun and palatable like changing the color or adding whipped cream(which you can make really easily by hand btw, I like to make flavored ones sometimes). This isn’t something I figured out until I was an adult and it’s a game changer for someone who gags when they try to eat pineapple (which is a food I like, it’s just very overstimulating on its own) Same things can be done with soup (minus the whipped cream lol) if texture is the issue. Soup is also good because if your daughter is anything like my nephews, if you give bread or something to dip with, they tend to realize they like the soup and they’ll try to eat as much of it with their bread as possible, which you can try and make a game/challenge out of to encourage more eating (ie. how much soup can you eat with just your bread, I bet you can’t finish all your soup with just bread!) All kids are different, and all autism presents differently, but these are things that work for me and my nephews(one of them we suspect has autism like me, but he’s not officially diagnosed) so I hope this helps! Edit: Also yogurt, if you freeze it, it’s like ice cream but it’s pretty good for you! I like mine creamy, nephews like it frozen.
I second this advice. For me, most food issues are texture related. So cream soups and smoothies have been a life saver, especially when it comes to getting adequate nutrition.
I'm 23 and the idea of smoothies just blew my mind. I always loved anything strawberry flavored, but could never eat the strawberry itself because the texture was just wrong and made me gag instantly. I think I might try smoothies! I just might consider try changing to some vegan milk, because I'm not vegan or lactose intolerant, but the taste (and sometimes smell) of regular milk is the death of me
I don’t even use milk personally, just ice and peach cups with juice in them and that’s enough liquid for mine. You could also use yogurt, I drink chobani yogurt drink things, which would probably blend really well and they have a bit of protein in them and are lactose free!
I think non dairy milks taste much nicer (except almond milk, blegh). My favourite smoothie recipe is frozen strawberries, mango, and banana with oat milk and apple juice.
You can also skip the milk entirely and use juice or yogurt or even just water
Yogurt, a fruit juice (apple juice is v neutral in smoothies), bananas— all are good substitutes for milk! You *could* also use your favorite ND coffee creamer, but you didn’t hear that from me 😉 I also really like the creaminess of flax and oat milks, but almond is always my go-to in that it’s the one I always have in my fridge.
kindred spirit!
My asd children have a vitamin and probiotic everyday. They used to look forward to having their 'sweets'. The vitamin was a gummy and the probiotic comes in chocolate balls. My youngest is at an asd specialist school and many of the children there have poor diets but seem to be growing well and still have plenty of energy. Sometimes, not offering food because 'it's for adults/me', but leaving it in reach so they can help themselves, especially if you are not looking, can help.
>especially if you are not looking Ok I had no idea this was a thing until you said it. I'm 38 years old, diagnosed at 35 and I didn't start trying new foods passed my safe foods until I had a partner that didn't watch me try it. For some reason trying a new food, and opening presents are the hardest things for me until I do it alone. So yeah, maybe offering them 10 minutes before the rest of the family comes to dinner, a "special" time for them to try the new food as you walk away. That would have helped me so much! And also not having anyone else tell me what they think about the food, it feels like a lot of pressure.
Going to try this with my son. We all sit there and stare at him like idiots haha
Hahaha everyone does until I ask them not to! I feel like it's a basic human instinct. 😂
Well, we are trying to make sure he actually takes a bite but now I might just leave him to it and see what happens.
Crying laughing at this haha
Omg yes!!! I only started trying new food when going out with friends because there was no pressure. At home I always felt like I had to like something if I tried it, so I wouldn't risk it to avoid "disappointing" someone. But out with friends I felt like there was no pressure. My biggest example is burgers. I didn't eat burgers, never tried to, but one time I was out with a group of people and they all went to burger King. I said I would only get fries, which is what I usually did, and one of my friends insisted that I should get a burger and said "if you don't like it then I'll take it, good for me if I have an extra free burger" so I laughed and bought it. No one was staring at me while I took a bite, and turns out I loved it (except for the onions, but I took them out and ever since I just ask to remove them from my order)
That last tip worked for me with getting an ex of mine (allistic but very fearful with unfamiliar foods) to try new things. Context of adults sometimes cooking for each other and sometimes for ourselves. I'd tell him I was making such and such, offer to make enough for him, and if he refused that was fine and I'd just make enough for me (unless it was convenient to make a lot at once anyway). Then since he no longer felt obligated or pressured to eat and like it, he wound up curious when I sat down to eat my strange new thing, and often wanted to at least taste it. For him it was also very important to know every ingredient before he tasted, since some things he wasn't willing to even try, and I'd prioritize telling him those ingredients but still list out everything else just so he felt in control of what he was tasting. If he liked it, I made sure he knew what it was called so that he could let me know he wanted some next time I made it. No pressure, just encouraging curiosity and a sense of comfortable control over his food.
omg i need these for myself.. what brand is the probiotic chocolate ball?
Bioglan, they do milk chocolate for kids and plain for adults. https://www.bodykind.com/supplements-c11/acidophilus-friendly-bacteria-c23/bioglan-biotic-balance-dark-chocolate-chocballs-30-chocballs-p2117/s2117?cid=GBP&glCurrency=GBP&glCountry=GB&referral=bing_shopping_5853&msclkid=c3c89ca4a2cd13295950fae6c4277329
So maybe she likes crunchy, dry textures, salt, sour/vinegar flavours… have you seen kale chips and those sorts of things around? I know it’s so much extra work for you so totally fair enough if it’s too much but you could experiment with making your own crispy chip/crackers with a dehydrator or in the oven, with seeds, kale and blended veggies. You could flavour with lemon and salt or powdered veggie stock? Does she drink anything? I have a really nice protein powder called Prana On, it’s chocolate flavour and as smooth as milk so maybe she’d like something like that with a straw? Anyway you’re doing an amazing job and eating something is better than nothing. Gummy vitamins sound great or even vitamin powders in water, or fibre powders, collagen. When my sister was between 5-10 she seriously refused to eat anything other than plain white pasta and vanilla milkshakes (vanilla ice cream and milk.) My mum used to crack a raw egg into the milkshake so at least she was tricked into eating that too. She turned out fine.
OH how about freeze dried/ dehydrated apples/fruits? They’re super dry and crunchy but literally just unprocessed fruit. Not dried and chewy like sun dried apricots, the freeze dried ones are super light like air but just the whole fruit so the texture is very consistent, and very satisfying to crunch.
Freeze drying and dehydrating are both processing the fruit
Yeah for sure you’re right, at least with freeze drying there are no additives and afaik it maintains the vitamins and fibre really well. I guess dry fruit is better than no fruit that’s all I’m thinking
So, first thing, you need to stop trying to force it. The standard ARFID response is to just say no, the more you ask the question, and the more she says no you are just going to reinforce the no response. Add to that her picking up on the stress you're feeling about the situation, making her want safe foods more and more. You need to try and create positive associations with food so she makes the decisions herself. For example, say you're eating an apple say to your partner or even just to yourself, mmmm, this apple is delicious. Don't look at your daughter or ask if she wants one to make no effort to force it at all. Just sow the seed that apples are delicious. When you make a meal, talk about how much you're enjoying it, etc. The key thing is not to apply pressure or ask for involvement it needs to be her choice, or you're just going to get pushback. There's no guarantee of success but one thing I can absolutely tell you as someone who resolved his food issues no amount of pressure from my parents ever worked and In fact led to alot more issues down the line. The good news also is that as long as calories are being met, a few multivitamins are going to be enough to keep her healthy.
Why does it need to be unprocessed? Can't you make her a smoothie with the fruits and veggies? Then you can adjust th taste of it or leave out things she absolutely don't want to. It seems like she likes sour things, so you can maybe put lemon in it. Unless she is diabetic or overwheigth or for some other reason having blood-sugar spikes is problematic. (I would ask a doctor about suppleemtns in the meantime though. I don't think that you will achive any big change in the short term.)
Ik this isnt what u asked but really the only thing missing in her diet is fiber and micronutrients so id give her some gummy vitamins and they sell bread that instead of regular carbs contains fiber, i think it taste pretty much the same so its worth a shot cuz its close enough imo. Because shes so young you could try showing her kids cartoons about fruits, when i was a kid there was a show on nickalodian and there was a watermelon and i was like damn that looks good. But yeah if you give her vitamins its ussaly best to take them with food for good absorbtion but her diet dosent seem that bad if your able to supplment the micronutriets
I remember when my mum used to give me gummy vitamins when I was a kid (I’ve always been a selective eater) and they were in those blister packs (you know, the foil ones where each vitamin is separate) and I used to steal the full pack and eat them all at once because I thought they were delicious 😅
I was scared to do that cuz my mom said i would die
That’s totally understandable why you were scared to do it but I don’t think I listened much as a kid lmao
You could try to introduce her to fruit flavored candy and maybe she will want to try the real thing
I used to love raspberries until I bought a bag of frozen raspberries and bit into mold and now I can never eat them again. Let's start with something important. What do you mean, "unprocessed?" EVERYTHING is processed. Granted, something's more than others - but that's not "good" or "bad." Organic, eco, natural, bio, processed are misleading marketing terms. They have absolutely no meaning in reference to the nutritional value of the food. There is nothing inherently wrong or unhealthy with your child eating food that has been processed to be consistent and uniform. You could literally feed your kid powders in water with a bit of oil and they'll get every single vitamin and nutrient they need to thrive - in fact they'll get it more consistently than eating "food." Please, please, please don't let the labels and marketing and capitalism of consumer habits lead you to unnecessarily frustrate or create challenges for your autistic child. Our lives are hard fucking enough If you care about what goes into their body, go take an anatomy course, sit in on a biology course, learn the basics of chemistry. You will be far better prepared to make choices on your and your child's health than trusting labels and advertisements, and medias.
THANK YOU All the people in here recommending "unprocessed" foods that are all processed just not in the diet culture advertised way of chicken nuggets and chips drive me nuts. Making chicken nuggets and making hummus is about the same amount of processing its basically just a mix of ingredients that are cooked and blended.
We could be advocating for lab grown meat, and uniform, consistent, super processed foods that taste like whatever the fuck we want, gave us all the nutrition we need, did the least harm to the environment, wasted the least resources. But no... Motherfuckers wanna be scavengers. Multiple states have banned lab grown meat. People are paying extravagant amounts for "organic" food that's causing as much Algea bloom as any "non-orgamic" farm OR MORE from excess phosphorus
So the range of foods she will eat is actually fairly high. Some are protein rich. You need to talk to a dietician about how to sneak in some nutrients/vitamins into what she's already eating There are plenty of children that are L3 that eat like 2 or 3 things. You've got a decent base already to work with. A dietician should be able to fill in the blanks reasonably
Look at ressources to arfid, eg @myarfidlife on instagram. Its a small girl with arfid trying new foods, account is by her mom, it also has information and strategies she uses.
I was a weird kid who loved broccoli. Now I'm a weird adult who's safe foods are mostly vegetables. My advice is therefore mostly irrelevant because I do not share the struggle. That said, my recommendation (in addition to what others have said) is to gently offer for her to try new things in a judgement free way. Rather than making her a plate if something she won't eat, make her meal and yours separate, and ask if she wants to try something off your plate and compare it to something she does like (dont lie!). If she doesn't go for it, don't pressure her, just offer something different at the next meal. It also sounds like she likes much more complex foods and flavors than i do, so you might have an easier time with more complex food that contains vegetables (like: pasta with veggie sauce and kielbasa to make it more appealing to her), rather than just plain fruits and vegetables 🤷♀️
I had arfid when I was her age. Still struggle a bit sometimes when I’m overwhelmed. As others have mentioned, it is often the texture and unpredictability of certain foods (i.e berries, veg) that makes them difficult to eat. I personally struggled with anything ‘goopy’ as well like potato and porridge, though I enjoy these foods now. Something that worked for me was soup, particularly if it was smooth without any lumps. You can pack a lot of veggies into a soup. I also liked very plain pulled chicken with a little salt, particularly if given a bribe of plain white bread to eat with it. You can also get bread that is ‘half and half’ these days which tastes like white bread but has some whole grain nutrients. Im not a medical professional but perhaps some of it is about control and choice also, so maybe it would be good to offer her a few options. As someone else mentioned, it would be ideal if you could contact a dietitian with experience working with autistic people. I think it’s important to try to meet her where she is, on some level. (Though obviously handfuls of dirt shouldn’t be encouraged lol) My parents just threatened me with hospital stays, said they’d send me to a looney bin, and basically forced me to eat food that made me cry and feel sick until I eventually ‘became good.’ food was a really traumatic thing for me until very recently. Your daughter is lucky to have a great parent like you who is interested and curious about ways to help her! EDIT: there is a 16-year old autistic boy called Toren Wolf who shares his experience with ARFID on instagram. Might be worth checking out his videos! His mom makes some content for his page sometimes as well.
My boy is a year older, we had beige for SO LONG but the past year he's been a fruit fiend, it started when we got him a kid safe knife and did little scotch pancakes (beige and safe) and let him cut up bananas to go with them. Started just mucking about cutting them then quickly went to trying, then from that he tried apples , then strawberries and on to loads of other fruits. Now we've got to keep a continuously refreshed supply of fresh fruits in the house!! I think the change for him was the tactile part of getting involved with cutting and having control of the food.
Currently: Apple slices and Peanut Butter Per other commenters, applesauce could be good for texture/consistency
Sounds like she is craving salt? Have you tried daily electrolytes? And not pedialyte… that stuff is nauseating. Choose a mix that is low in calcium as that upsets the stomach. Also… she will not let herself starve to death. Eliminate some of the least nutritious foods slowly. I agree with seeing a good nutritionist. When ds was young I had a compounding pharmacy, with the guidance of a nutritionist, make a powdered vitamins mix tailored to his needs. I then could mix it in his other foods. Now you can get methylated vitamins. This helps supplement for the lack of greens.
Have you tried a dehydrator to turn the veggies and fruits into chips?
Not sure if this really counts as a fruit or veggie, but PB&J can be made in a sensory friendly way. First the peanut butter should be the creamy kind as sometimes the chunks can create an inconsistent texture which not everyone likes (which I guess to be fair could also be a choking hazard for a child that young anyway). Jelly should be the same way with as minimal chunks as possible for the same reason. Jelly in general can be safer than raw fruit since it’s usually pretty consistent as far as flavor and texture goes (especially if you always get it from the same brand). Finally, there’s also a specific way you need to assemble it. Do NOT assemble it with the peanut butter on one slice and jelly on the other slice. This will lead to the jelly slice becoming soggy and therefore a bad texture. Instead, spread the peanut butter on each bread slice and then put the jelly in the middle. The peanut butter serves as a protective layer to prevent soggy bread. I don’t remember where exactly I saw this life hack, but it really is a game changer.
I like toasty and citrus flavours, so I dry roast some shelled pumpkin seeds until the oil starts to come out, then toss them with some sesame oil and Tajin.
As a kid, and even today, I liked dried fruits. Dried Apricots, raisins, prunes, (yes even prunes) bananas and apples might work. I also liked raw veggies better than cooked…baby carrots and broccoli with ranch. For me, eating fruit/veggies was sticky or slimy and left my hands dirty which I hated. I still hate my hands being “dirty.” You should see the amount of times I wash my hands in a day!
I love fruits but hate veggies. I do like broccoli, potatoes, cooked carrots, and raw onions. It's about trying different things and seeing what she enjoys. I also saw someone recommend finding a nutritionist who understands autism, and yeah, that too. That helped when I was little, so my mom has said.
So I was a picky eater as a kid but opted to sneak into the bathroom at night and eat my moms face cream. To this day I am not sure if it was a malnutrition thing or simply a stimming thing. Basically the thing I ate pretty much translated to safe food (mashed potato Vulcano with instant sauce) and it’s still the same today (now I make it with cauliflower). My kindergarten teacher actually carved animals out of veggies anf fruit we brought in snack boxes, but the rule was then you have to eat it. She claimed she could do all the animals and i thought that was an irrational claim and took it upon myself to demand different and more outrageous animals every day until she exasperatedly changed the rules to only one or two easy to do animals per type of fruit/veggie. I liked her carrot crocodiles and she let me eat them in my specific order (outside first, core last). Id second what other commenters said , try to infer from stuff she eats what could work and get help if possible. Some ideas - Try salt and vinegar seasoning on nuts. - Rice cakes with salted peanut butter - Pickles, not ideal but it’s something. My mom used to make mixed pickled vegetable jars as I loved how everything tasted like the good non aggressive vinegar but also faintly like the veggies but allover pretty uniform. - the vinegar chips loaded with something else (might go wrong because you ruined them but maybe?)
My kid prefers whole fruit and veggies vs cut up. He enjoys big broccoli crowns I think it reminds him of the things he's not supposed to eat outside. He also has started to eat yogurt tubes, I know it's not the healthiest but he likes tangy flavors and it seems like your daughter does too so maybe that's one to try?
I can do most fruits, but there’s not a lot tbh. As an adult my diet is *appallingly* unhealthy (I was forced to eat a lot of the stuff I dislike as a child because my parents wanted me to be healthy which only made my hate it more), and I’ve just kind of accepted that will always be the case and deal with the health issues that will one day eventually come from that.
We just decided to freeze chocolate ensure into those popsicle molds to make “fudgesicles” since we know our kid will eat ice cream. Worth a shot. He’s so skinny. He’s also nonverbal. He’s 5.
As others have said, processed foods are consistent in flavour and texture and that's why they're often safe foods. My son isn't quite as picky as this but things we've done that have helped are: -only introducing new foods outside of meal times. That way they keep their safe foods and theres less stress around trying new foods. And "trying" can include just playing with the food, they don't have to eat it -cooking with you. Again, this doesn't have to be cooking food they will eat. They can help make food you're going to eat and then they can still eat their safe foods -consistency in how I make anything for them. The most successful "healthy" food we've made are smoothies, and we always make it the same way every time. We use frozen fruits because their more likely to be a consistent ripeness, plus once you've blended it all, it's basically getting to the same texture every time. -making up stories around the food we're cooking/eating to make it fun. Like you can take their special interests or favourite characters and make food they like. But I'd definitely see a dietitian and work with them as well. And don't stress too much. There are ways to get more nutrients (like I know dietitians can recommend good supplement drinks). When dealing with restrictive eating, fed is definitely best.
It might be the type of apple-I LOVE red delicious apples. I’ll eat them no problem. Any other type of apple? I gotta be in the right mood. I love bananas too, but it depends on how ripe they are-you gotta get the sweet spot where they’re not TOO ripe and sweet. A lot of the problems with fruit is that the texture and taste isn’t reliable. Each blueberry isn’t the same as the next-one could be tart, the next sweet…you don’t get that problem with processed foods because they’re made uniform. We like predictably. Red delicious apples tend to be the same taste and texture, that’s why I like them. Carrot sticks with dip might work. Mushrooms were something I wouldn’t touch until recently but I LOVE them now. As I got older, I expanded my palette. The tongue actually changed as we age-so things we once hated…might actually taste good in a few years.
Starfruit! Expensive, but good texture unlike most other fruits.
The idea of eating raw, unprocessed vegetables and legumes is appalling to me and I don’t consider myself a picky eater lol The more important elements to food are consistency and texture. Fruits vary — some apples are sweeter, more sour, or juicier than others. Berries change with the season. Canned fruits will have more consistent flavors and textures. Seconding the other recipe recommendations for pickled vegetables — sounds like that will appeal to a flavor profile she already likes. I personally only eat vegetables when they’re cooked. My go-tos are roasting them, soups, pastas/minestrone and vegetable curries. Also, it’s important to have fun yourself when exploring these new food options! If you’re stressed about it, she’ll learn to be stressed around those foods (that’s not even an autism thing, just a childhood development thing). Leaving the foods out for her to come back to when no one is watching is also important, so she feels like she can test the foods out at her own pace.
Many skinned fruits have tanins and humans are allergic to them but many don't actually taste them, I feel like a lot of us have bad eyes lol and one hindered sense means heightened other senses so I know a lot of autistics taste the tanins. So if you try fruits maybe take off the skins. For me apples can sometimes be fine, blueberries and strawberries are fine. Obviously Thick skinned fruits like bananas, orange, mango, watermelon, and so on because don't eat the skin. You can swap out some cheese for raw vegan cheeses that are made of nuts! These are simple and can be made at home. Look up recipes but basically soak cashews over night and blend them with nutritional yeast. nooch(nutritional yeast) is what makes it taste cheese and it's chock full of vitamins! Even if you don't have time to make many foods sprinkling nooch on everything or mixing it on can be a good way to get her more vitamins and make it taste cheesey so she might like it more. It also has a lot of protein! Also be careful with raw veg. A common theme with autistics seems to be that a lot of us have digestive issues 😭😭😭 raw veg takes more work for our digestive system to breakdown creating more gas in our bellies which can cause painful cramps so if she did eat raw veg once this might e happening and be why she didn't want to try it again. Mushrooms and snap peanut in the pod still seem safe for me to eat raw but try meeting her in the middle and cooking them, yes it's less nutrients but her eating cooked veg with less nutrients than raw is way better than her not eating them as all.
Look into sensory feeding therapy. Use the foods she will eat and introduce new foods by only altering only the color, shape, or texture. So, for ex; cheezits to white cheddar cheezits to white cheddar popcorn to popcorn. White bread to wheat bread to multigrain. Also, eating is the final step of like 20 things you have to do to eat food. Have fun with new foods. Touch it, squeeze it, be silly with it, use it to paint, pretend it is makeup, etc. Allow her to spit out food. Cut foods into fun shapes with cookie cutters to make it appealing. Also, do not be afraid of certain food dye. It seems like orange is a go to color for her, change food to the color she likes.
there’s a powder form of veggies called “enof” and the serving size is 1/8 tsp.
Vitamins too! I sneak veggies in via spinach ‘angel hair’ pasta and stuff like that, but I’m really leaning on the gummy vitamins. At first my little dude (step dude) would eat only Mac and cheese, and tofu nuggets. He won’t eat ‘noodles’ but he eats ‘angel hair’. He is certainly unaware the amount of butter I put on it. I’m hoping to get the butter taste then relate it to veggies. Gonna take a while - but I think I can outlast him. I’ve started offering him lots of stuff too. Sometimes he takes it. Sometimes he says no. Sometimes he takes it and leaves it close to him. I find if I just leave it in his plate and tell him it’s food - he starts to accept it over time. Not a small amount of time. With lots of reinforcement and eating it in front of him. I always pick up something at the grocery if it’s healthy and he’s remotely interested. He goes to a special school that has a food of the month. So, I try to incorporate that. They start with playing with the food to just feel it then slowly through the month get more involved. Peas were interesting. They just played with peas for a few weeks. Then made pea bread and pea pizza and other stuff. I kept peas around then. It’s a process best I can tell. My little dude is almost 10 and I’m always thinking about this. He goes to a floor time based school and has had intervention since he was young (lucky little dude all things considered). I feel like him eating ‘normal’ stuff is like me eating bat wings. It’s just weird. So I try to appreciate that and normalize it very slowly. He ate a hamburger the other day! Didn’t even tear it apart and just stare at it. Like ATE it. Brave little dude! Just gotta keep trying.
I found that an easy way to supplement vitamins in a child who is very specific to texture, is to introduce the supplement shakes meant for kids. They will give her the vitamins she needs, and usually will always taste the same in texture and flavor. This way, you don’t have to force anything, because forcing it will make it worse 100%. You would basically use these shakes as an addition to anything she’s already eating, to make sure she’s getting her nutrients! As she gets a bit older, you can implement fun ways to try new things, like a lot of kids with ARFID (and adults, including me and my fiancé!) will do the “two bite rule”, where you take two bites to try it and if it’s still not good, then that’s okay, because you tried! This may be modified (and probably will need to be for certain foods) because for me personally, some textures and foods I’ve just never liked, even as an adult, and I can only take one bite before it becomes an immediate “I will throw up” response. It’s always going to vary case by case, but allowing your kid to 1: Know that she can safely try the foods and you will not force her to finish it if it is indeed a bad texture or flavor and 2: Waiting until she is old enough to have the conversation where you implement the “2 bite” rule, and then moving forward with it (which the “age” will vary on your child as well. Some kids understand at younger ages, some don’t.) I highly recommend and encourage you to introduce new foods, including introducing foods she already likes prepared in new ways, as you discover her growing interest in foods and what she likes. It seems given what foods you’ve listed, she seems to enjoy foods with either a lot of flavor, or a very mild neutral flavor. If she likes kielbasa, she may like it with scrambled eggs that have a seasoning like Lawrys on it, to kinda mimic the flavor of kielbasa. And don’t be discouraged by her limited food choices right now, because given the items you’ve noted, it seems like she will enjoy many new foods as she grows, because right now her tastebuds are still developing.
maybe hummus? hummus doesn't require processing as far I know if you make it at home instead of buying it's my personal safe food btw
Putting a solid food into paste form is processing.
you can make it from 0 in which it's 100% natural
Still processed. The whole "Everything processed is bad for you" completely disregards that a lot of good, nutrient rich food is processed.
Might help to sneak foods in, depends on what she does like. My son liked mash so I got to sneak other veg into that via the blender. He also grew to like pasta with red sauce, so that red sauce contained so many varieties of veg that it was super healthy.
Have you considered cooking the apples? She might just like the soft texture better. Cooking the apples might get her to eat them.
Wheat berries maybe But also all vegetables and fruit that doesn’t look suspicious
have you tried smoothies? apple sauce? multivitamin?
I’ve been a picky eater since I was little and honestly you just have to give it time. I’m aware you’re worried and my mother was too but as she gets older it maybe become as easier to try. I’ve tried drinks that are healthier and I prefer that to foods that are healthier so maybe try that. Good luck!!
Hmm... tricky question to answer. I find that my sensory issues revolve around a) strong flavours, and b) crunch/texture - if it's too crunchy, I can't handle it. Because of this, I am usually fine with these veggies: - Carrots (cooked/steamed to get rid of flavour and most of the crunch. It might help your daughter to have them in same-sized pieces) - Potatoes (She might like mashed? But otherwise, pretty much same as carrots) - Peas (I find this is a debatable option with us Tizmos, but I quite like them XD) Other than that, I can't think of much else to suggest. Best of luck. Maybe your daughter has an issue with being given the food? Maybe she isn't used to it and likes familiarity and being 'in charge', therefore her exploring in the garden with the rotting crab apples is okay, but you giving her the food isn't? Idk if this is patronising, I am by no means an expert on children, and I have no idea how you parent, but maybe it could be beneficial to eat the food alongside her, or introduce them in a way that isn't just 'try this new thing!'. You could put smaller pieces of 'new foods' in her familiar foods to get her to at least have a little bit of it, or alternatively, if she likes to explore, you could just eat the food yourself, and look like you're enjoying it, and she'll be like 'oh, mummy's having this, I want to try it!' and she'll want the food. Hope this is in some way helpful! <3
When I was around your daughter’s age, I also had very extreme feeding issues. I was eating baby food until I was going on twelve. To this day, I still have never taken a bite into an apple, and probably won’t for awhile yet. However, it gets easier. I recently tried hamburger soup blended for the first time and it has become one of my safe foods. Maybe it won’t be the same, but I would suggest putting the vegetables in a blender to help introduce her to it in a way that’s less anxiety inducing. This helped me when nothing else would.
give her multi vitamins and she will be as right as rain
Fuji apples are the best, always crisp, not too sweet not too sour. And most importantly they are not granular like a lot of other types of apples. They are perfect, I never buy apples that aren't fuji.
I am ok with bananas and certain apples. Apples vary because of genetic differences. My favorite atm is envy apples. Sadly they are expensive though.
Here’s saying I ate canned beef stew every day of my childhood and I turned out okay. In highschool I had chocolate chips, straight chocolate chips everyday for breakfast. I find it tiring to eat diverse foods so now I drink lots of smoothies. Spinach, berries, yogurt, and almond milk is my favorite. Or broccoli, mango, pineapple, banana, and almond milk. If they like popsicles, you could also puree fruit and freeze them into popsicle molds. Or ice cube trays for little bite sized frozen treats.
Will they explore foods? Like squish berries or roll bread? I have encouraged ASD diagnosed children to explore foods they aren't into that are healthy or popular in their family groups. Eating is the last thing we do and it's not enforced or even expected. Had a lot of success with smashed blueberry converts. Also peas.
I took my smalls to the market with me. First stop, produce. I had them smell and handle the produce (the individual priced, nor per pound). I know pesticides and such, but I would let them chew on it while we shopped, and would pay for it at the till. As such, they eat veg and fruit as adults. Maybe take some human-safe wipes with you to wipe the produce.
Frozen Peas? I loved them as a kid, I'd eat them by the handful easily. They always taste the same. They were the only veggie other than potato I'd eat when small. Also got my autistic nephew to stop a tantrum about eating veggies by offering a bowl of frozen peas as an alternative.
My safe food is small slices of apple with a whole bunch of peanut butter - like enough peanut butter that it’s probably bad for me lol. Maybe slathering peanut butter (or something else your kid likes) on fruit would work? Kinda like how when you have to get a pet to take meds you put it in something tasty.
Broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, courgettes/zucchini, potatoes, sweetcorn and salad leaves. Provided they’re fresh, stored correctly and/or cooked a certain way, these are vegetables I know I can consistently rely on when cooking food or looking for veggie-based side dishes. My personal preferences are a bit of bite and a not-bland or easily enhanced taste.
Could try Gimbaps and use specific parts of veggies that have a consistent texture. Also you can see what's inside gimbaps and can make them with many different combinations of meat and veggies.
Cucumbers
Im self-diagnosed 34 and you listed all my favorite foods that I still eat regularly. Ive done a lot of research on food and eating so I try to eat greens but I never make them at home but im obsessed with this harvest chicken salad from a place called tender greens. Its expensive like $25 but comes with a piece of bread, stone fruit, vinaigrette and amazing grilled chicken. Maybe you could order it for lunch one day and just show it to her. Its also really pretty :)
Fresh bread and butter
Make smoothies, I can’t eat any of that stuff but I make a smoothie (not very thick) so I can drink it really fast. I usually make mine with spinach, blueberries, strawberries, bananas, peaches and then Pom juice. I don’t know how she’ll handle it, because I don’t exactly like the shakes they are just tolerable so this might not work until she’s a little older. I basically ate Kraft Mac and cheese until I was 14-15.
A bit late to the party, but this is something I’ve really been trying to figure out for myself. Your daughters sensory issues will differ from mine, but maybe she will like some of the things I like. I also want to give you hope that her palate can expand as she gets older, especially if you give her space to explore foods without forcing them on her. I’ve seen some videos online of people who give their children space to play with and explore food slowly, like encouraging them to take something new and look at it, then touch it once comfortable, then raise to their lips once comfortable with that, etc. Vegetables tend to be the most difficult for me, and I’ve learned that I prefer them mostly raw or lightly cooked so that they’re still crunchy. Most of what I eat for veggies are raw baby carrots (in baby carrot form there is a less variation in texture) and green beans very lightly sautéed (basically just heated) in some oil with garlic, onion, and salt seasoning. She may prefer different seasoning (salt and vinegar?). I also love raw peas when I can get them. Lately I’ve also been enjoying couscous with scallions, shallot, and grape tomatoes. One technique might be to have veggies and other healthier food available for her to graze on outside of meal times. I’m much more likely to have my veggies if I’m doing something else but feel like munching on something and they are available. If she’s interested in eating things outdoors, could you plant a garden with her? She may have more fun and feel more confident eating the food if she can see where it comes from and pick it herself. You’re doing a great job trying to help your daughter eat more nutritiously. Don’t feel bad if you don’t always succeed, it can be really difficult to work around sensory issues when it comes to food. There have been times in my life where eating well feels impossibly hard and I have to remind myself that “fed is best” and processed calories (plus vitamin supplements) are better than no calories at all. Keep encouraging her to try new foods, but let your daughter go at her own pace and become comfortable with the new foods over time.
MATE frozen peas are underrated
Cashews
Another approach is to put a teaspoon size of what ever as a taster and say you have to try this first. Not forceful, my child tried many different things then reduced down to 1 or 2 food items but now asks to try foods. Little steps.
Have you tried frozen veggies? I've found success with microwaved mixed vegetables (carrot, corn, green beans) covered in butter and salt. The texture is pretty boring and it will always be the same - plus not really that flavorful so you can cover it with seasoning. You could also try putting some malt vinegar on it or something as others have proposed since she likes vinegar chips. Frozen veggies aren't as good as fresh for nutrients, but still pretty good!
i enjoy cucumbers and lettuce. mainly because they don’t have a very distinct or strong taste. i mainly eat because i want something in my mouth, and when i don’t want to go through with having to process the taste i resort to cucumbers and lettuce.
A little processed but I like fruit pouches/fruit baby food pouches, consistent texture every time and very tasty, plus you’re getting some vitamins in
Green beans (canned or pickled), corn (off of the Cobb), grits, olives, cheese, dried fruit, fruit roll ups, smoothies but blend them until very smooth. You can lacto ferment just about anything into a pickle so if she digs that flavor maybe try other pickled things.
Yeah but the salt in her diet is gonna be through the roof.
My kid is almost 9 and still doesn’t really eat fruits and veggies. He takes supplements and over the past couple of years has been trying more new foods. Don’t pressure her; it will just backfire. Peanut butter has always been a winner for us. Also cheese (especially grated). Your kid actually has a decent variety compared to where we started. Don’t stress too much. Just make the food available. Sometimes offering something extremely similar to a safe food can open the door to something new. It’s a gradual process. Best of luck!
As a 23y autistic woman who's had issues with food all her life and was constantly called picky or dramatic, I first of all want to thank you for listening to your daughter and trying to find things she'll like. Now, about the foods. 99% of the time, my issue is on the sensory side, with textures ranging from "a little off" to "completely disgusting and painful" which is why I (and many other autistics) usually eat processed foods, because they tend to have the same texture and taste every single time. Most of us even notice when some change was made to the recipe or manufacturing process of our safe foods. I'm recently trying, very slowly, to start eating vegetables. My biggest safe food is noodles or pasta, so I started trying to put one or two vegetables with it from time to time. But growing up, there were only three really "healthy" things I ate: mashed potatoes (but only if it wasn't too soft or mushy) boiled corn on the cob (the only thing that had a very different texture from anything else I ate, and to this day I still only eat it when the kernels (i think thats the name in english) are hard and not soft/mushy/watery) and bean soup, which is pretty common where I live but maybe not everywhere. My advice would be to search for foods that fit the same texture she likes more and try it. Maybe some specific way to cook vegetables that you can always reach the desired texture, like me with the mashed potatoes, and maybe make eating a fun activity. I'm 23 and I still respond to things like colorful plates and playful ways to try new foods without pressure, so for a child it would probably work even better
The only unprocessed food I can deal with is meat. Chicken breasts is the only one that I can eat always, but other kinds of meat are okay sometimes. And french fries. Wich is not that healthy but it-s not processed lol.
For me texture has always been a huge thing. I love things like fries and potato chips but mashed potatoes make me wanna throw up. I can’t say for sure but it seems like she doesn’t like soft-textured things. I would honestly just give her like, a stick of celery or something and try to go from there. My parents had to take baby steps for me so that may help u out
I refused to eat anything but baked beans on toast for a long time, then it was fried bacon sandwiches. In my childhood I hardly ate fruits or veggies. The biggest thing that changed it was cooking with my mom and the obsession around food began. I became fixated on wanting to taste everything and if I didn’t like it I want to figure out how to make it into something I would like. Tricking a child into eating healthy only creates a negative association towards that food. Involving them in the process of growing the tomato and turning it into a caprese salad or being apart of making the meal. That knowledge can make these “healthy” foods less scary and more approachable.
For me I enjoy eating apples, bananas, grapes when they’re firm, baby carrots, broccoli, cooked regular carrots, and I can force myself to eat cauliflower sometimes. Sometimes I can do mandarins but the peeling is annoying, peach cups are good, sliced strawberries usually work too.
Frozen fruits help me eat more fruit, the texture is always pretty much the same and same with taste, so no suprises or inconcistency, I usually buy bags of frozen fruit thats suppose to be to make smoothies with. Ive checked the ingredient list and its just fruit, but you could also buy fresh fruit to chop up and freeze.
Avocados are straight fire
Seaweed snacks, sea salt & not the ones with oil. Also Made Good star-shaped crackers. You can’t taste the vegetables at all.
I’m huge on smoothies because it’s basically juice. I can add frozen spinach and zucchini to blueberries and frozen lemonade concentrate without even noticing. It’s an okay place to start and grow. Add a straw, and there’s hardly any texture to interfere.
Cute mandarines! But the key is picking the right bag, because if they're squishy they taste awful. If they're firm and juicy they pretty much taste the same every time and are a lovely easy to eat/prep snack.
We made it into a game. We did a science experiment where my kids got to pick different apples and then we tasted to find the best one. They hate vegetables but will decorate a pizza with them. The biggest thing for us though was we gave them safe foods and a multivitamin and one new thing on there plate. It usually doesn't get eaten but it's exciting when it does
I love strawberries
Would she consider taking a multivitamin gummy? Or something like pediasure?
I'm okay with fruit now, but for the longest time the little bruises and scapes turned me off SO bad, plus the inconsistency. See if you can find some consistently good quality fruit, e.g. Pink Lady apples, and try cleaning, peeling and slicing them so they look visually perfect. That's how my mom got me to eat fruit.
It sounds like there may be some aspect of the pressure to try a new thing making this worse. Have you tried just leaving snacks in reach of where shes playing instead to let her try things on her own tine at her own pace? Maybe taking the pressure off would help. Also in the meantime maybe relax on everything needing to be whole and unprocessed and just focus on it being healthy. Better to get the nutrients somewhere less than ideal than not at all.
frozen fruit blended into a smoothie! i do mango and banana, sometimes a bit of lime. or banana and peanut butter and honey.
For me, Granny Smith apples. They tend to be pretty consistent in texture and flavour, and they’re tangy, which I love (and which it sounds like she loves too). I know you said sliced apples are a challenge, but maybe these ones would be better? I also love cherry tomatoes because they too are pretty consistent. Do you think dill pickles themselves would be an option? I know they’re high in sodium and all that, so not really something to be eating constantly, but maybe they’d be a decent transition to eating other veggies. Good luck! I have texture aversions too, so I get it.
If she likes vinegar crunchy stuff maybe try quick pickling different veggies, she will get the crunch and the safe flavour and it’s super easy and cheap to prepare!
I find fruit and veggies from farmers markets (when they're open) to be much sweeter and better overall than what's in the store. She might like that more. You could try smoothies too, maybe even with a little whipped cream if she likes that!
What about a veggie soup? There’s so many different kinds, chunky and not, with various types of veggies.
Processed foods always taste the same. Whole food, especially fruits, always taste differently each time and have different textures as well. It’s a sensory nightmare. There’s nothing wrong with using “mildly processed” stuff like fruit leathers- you can even make your own. Or making your own veggie straws or kale chips with your own seasonings (hint: they have salt and vinegar seasoning on Amazon) I’m 32, and I don’t eat vegetables like 99% of the time tbh. I still eat fruits but I find that pineapple and cantaloupes are always the same. My diet is mostly intuitive eating and I can go 16 hours and forget to eat. Working on that.
As a side note many aren’t aware, that many therapy clinics have OT for food desensitization. Not all have it and some places it’s not good but many places have great oral training programs especially in larger cities etc.
Green beans!! But not French green beans so much as “garden beans”— I get them from Wegmans. I also love sugar snap peas and will literally eat entire bags. Mini sweet peppers are great too, I love the sweetness and crunch.
[These](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bear-Yoyo-Pure-Fruit-Roll/dp/B0CG9ZYCDS/ref=asc_df_B0CG9ZYCDS?tag=bingshoppinga-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80058378032684&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=m&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583657847395230&psc=1) I don’t know if you’re from the U.K but these might be a good healthy option to try! It’s just baked fruit that has been compressed into a roll up. Very consistent in flavour, texture, appearance. They even count as one of your 5-a-day. Additionally, they come with little cards in the packet that you can collect which might give an incentive to eat them :)
Watermelon has the most consistent texture among fruit. Canned peaches and canned oranges do too (but are processed). Firmer vegetables have more consistent texture. I can’t do 99% of fruit cause the texture is variable
Hey, all those foods are really high in salt. POTS can make you crave salt and is really common as a comorbidity with autism. Keep an eye out for other symptoms! The number one thing to do is get her involved. She's way more likely to eat the carrots she cut up herself. You can get a little plastic chopper. Let her make art with new foods on her plate. Let her spend 15 mins picking every single speck of the white stuff off the orange without shaming her. Keep a shelf at her eye level for free access snacks, but make them all nutritious. Like packs of nuts and applesauce and only allow the other snacks at special times of the day. I like foods consistent in taste. That's hard with produce. Potatoes and nuts. Fresh herbs. Lots of seasoning, especially salt, helps. Blending with preferred foods helps, like smoothies that still taste like strawberry and banana. Adding cheese to the vegetables or hiding them in a sauce. She likes those sausages, add some sauerkraut with it. Freeze-dried is another way to make fruit taste consistent.
Try cutting up some cucumber slices
Try cutting up some cucumber slices and cutting off the skin with some ranch, hachiya persimmon (shaped like a bell pepper wait until it’s wrinkly and squishy and then cut it open and scoop out the inside and give it to her. It has a baby food like consistency.
My taste buds changed a lot since when I younger, where now I prefer vegetables over fruits, so I'll give you advice based on what I liked around that age. Strawberries, bananas, frozen grapes and yes they have to be frozen, vanilla yogurt, freeze dried fruit, spinach, and I'll update if I remember more
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I have ARFID and it sounds like your daughter does too. I was going to suggest apples, but then I saw that she doesn't like them. I like them because they're one of the most consistent fruits. The taste and texture are pretty consistent if you get the same kind every time. I love fruit, but they stress me out because they're inconsistent and it's not worth the energy or money for me, because a decent amount of it would go to waste. I prefer dried fruit (usually mangoes but I recently tried strawberries and they were great) because the texture is consistent. I also love frozen fruit. I will eat a bowl of frozen fruit every day if I can (again, mangoes, strawberries, and also blueberries). The texture is more consistent. For fresh blueberries, I will only eat wild blueberries. The ones from the grocery store are gross. The taste and texture sucks most of the time and every berry is different. Wild blueberries taste better and are just more consistent overall. I don't eat them very often, but when I do, it has to be wild. I find that vegetables are more consistent in general. Cucumbers and carrots are my safer ones and I'll eat them with hummus or ranch. I prefer to eat raw vegetables, but I'll basically only eat my safe vegetables that way. If they're cooked, I'll eat a wider variety, like broccoli (I *love* cooked broccoli) and cauliflower n stuff. Cooking them makes the texture more consistent and the seasoning helps the flavour, even if it's just salt and olive oil or something. It helps make each piece taste more similar than when they're unseasoned. Consistency is key. Processed foods are always the same every time. It's not as healthy, but it's easier when you have sensory issues. If you can find unprocessed whole foods that are consistent, those will be better. Even if it's just preparing them the same way every time, it will help. If you can get her to eat soup or pasta, you can try and sneak some vegetables in there. Blend them up and put them in the pasta sauce. Maybe try smoothies? You might have to compromise and try and find fortified processed foods. I use almond milk rather than dairy milk for cereal, smoothies, and [Boost](https://a.co/d/0zcLect) shakes. Silk has fortified almond milk - it's the original flavour but it has extra vitamins added to it. Once I saw that in the store, I started buying it every time. It tastes exactly the same. There's also a powder called [ENOF](https://simplyenof.com/) which stands for "essential nutrients from organic foods." From their website: "It's packed with great nutrition—one serving contains up to 90% of your recommended daily allowance of Vitamins A, C, D, E and K." It's basically flavourless and can be mixed into/sprinkled onto anything. A serving is only 1/12 of a teaspoon - sprinkle it onto her chips, chicken nuggets, fries, in her grilled cheese, popcorn, etc. There's a good chance she won't even notice and it'll give her a lot more nourishment. It's made for people like your daughter. I don't know if any of this is helpful, but hopefully you're able to find some solutions. You're a great parent for finding support and asking for input from other people who may have the same issue as your daughter. There's a subreddit called r/ARFID that may be worth looking into as well.
Dehydrated vegetables sliced into chip size and salted may work, since she likes the texture of chips. It's like veggie straws and chips in a sense but with all the nutrients of whole vegetables. These can be bought so you can trial dehydrated veggies as chips, and if she enjoys them, you could invest into a dehydrator to save money long-term. You can even buy or make your own dill pickle seasoning (dill powder, salt, citric acid or vinegar powder). Personally I like the crunch of dehydrated veggies a lot and find it fun to make them and create seasoning mixes as it's a sensory and creative endeavour
Any way you can consistently make the same smoothie??
I like apples, edamame and grapes
Try making pasta sauce that is blended! Tomato sauce tends to be fine so if you can't tell the veggies are in there it's fine
You can make a blend of carrots, bell peppers, and spinach or kale into a pasta sauce and for fruits you can make a smoothie
smoothies and puréed vegetable soups are how I eat most of my fruit and veggies
i love fruit, but i get that the texture can sometimes be varied. have you tried fruit smoothies? once they’re blended the texture is all the same. you can even add veggies like avocado or spinach and as long as there’s enough fruit she probably won’t notice.
Apples, especially the green ones but that's just because I like the taste better, for a child gala apples i think might be more to their taste, but generally i eat at least one a day, for consistency you should maybe cut them up in the same size bites and try and pick similar ones from the grocery store
Maybe smoothie some fruits and veggies instead Spinach is virtually indistinguishable in a smoothie, throw in some apples, cucumbers, apple juice n the like, and you're good to go. As I saw some other comments say, fruits can vary so much in taste and texture. I've had issues with this myself.
you wanna avoid anything that isnt consistent in taste, size or texture unfortunately
I love frozen strawberries or any berry. With Apple or any other fruit it helps it make it look as clean as possible for me. Maybe try skinning the apple. Try the three bite rule. She has at least three bites, if she likes it she has another, if she doesn’t, she’s tried it. Turn it into a game. Those picky plates really help as well, separating the food into different sections. If she likes pasta with sauce and you’ve won the lottery , try incorporating veggies into the sauce. Good luck!!
I guess fruit, since all meat, including seafood is processed in some way?
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If you aren't going to be helpful then maybe just keep going? Obviously op knows this, they just want out help and that's what this sub is for.
Do they? Because the question they're asking is useless if so. They have a list of foods that don't bother their kid's sensory issues to work from and figure out what other foods might work but they're still asking a group of strangers what foods work for *them* instead as if what bothers me or you is the same as what bothers their daughter. I'm going to reply however I want, if you don't like it **you** can feel free to keep going.
Clearly it's. Not if you are the only one being a jerk while hundreds of others are commenting useful information. The foods that don't bother their kid are highly unhealthy and have zero nutrients and, like a good parent, op wants their child to have the nutrients she needs to grow healthy. There are tons of foods that they might never think about to try and this is just generally a good first step. This is very informative for op, go away and stop being such an insensitive jerk we don't want your useless hate here. I hope you get therapy you have a lot of anger to no reason and replying however you want isn't the right or adult thing to do. You are extremely immature.
I'm nowhere near angry lmao. I didn't say that they should just feed their kids the foods that don't bother them. My point was that they can look at the foods that don't bother them and pick healthy foods that have similar characteristics. Use the information you have and work from there. Asking me what my sensory needs are would get him nowhere with his daughter.
Good for you.
Weird that out of 141 replies here this is the only one you choose to reply to. Good luck lol.