“Why, who makes much of a miracle? As to me I know of
nothing else but miracles…”~ Walt Whitman
For over a year, we have been trying to help Alex regain his healthy and hearty appetite. Although many people with autism have issues with eating, we were blessed with a child who would happily devour nearly any food placed before him. After a nasty bout of thrush last summer made Alex’s mouth and throat sore and made food taste bad, he has had difficulty overcoming the loss of appetite, even months after medications eradicated the thrush.
For more than a year, his self-imposed diet consists almost exclusively of cool and smooth foods: applesauce, dairy-free yogurt, a few fruits, lemon pudding, Jello, and smoothies. We have tried various approaches to increase both the variety and volume of what Alex eats on a daily basis. However, we must always be careful that our encouragement to eat doesn’t become pressure to perform that may trigger anxiety.
After months of prayer and gently persuading Alex to try different foods, we decided to take him to a speech therapist his primary care doctor had recommended for food aversion. Immediately impressed by her understanding of why Alex’s appetite suddenly changed as well as by her warmth and kindness toward Alex and us, we felt hopeful that she could help him. Moreover, we were relieved to discover nothing was physically wrong with Alex’s ability to eat; he simply has sensory issues and anxiety about eating.
Last week, I found an excellent article on the Child Mind Institute website that explains food aversion clearly and offers helpful tips. [To read this article, please click here.] In “More Than Picky Eating,” Rachel Ehmke notes, “Kids with a serious aversion to many foods may need help with food habits and overcoming avoidance.” She goes on to say, “Their aversion goes beyond normal choosiness and into an area where parents find they need to call for backup.” Clearly, this reinforced our decision to seek the expertise of a speech therapist regarding Alex’s new aversion to food.
In the article, she explains potential reasons why children limit their diets, namely, anxiety issues and/or heightened senses of smell and taste. Specifically, she describes fears of trying new things, worries about choking, and issues with textures. With Alex, he seems to be more driven by sensory issues––taste, texture, and temperature. However, he also seems to have anxiety about the act of eating, and he is trying to deal with his fears by reading medical books. For him, knowledge is power. Of course, we have tried to reassure him, as well.
The article goes on to explain using exposure therapy, working with foods that have been avoided “in a carefully controlled, therapeutic way.” Children are encouraged to try new foods and rate them, eating foods that don’t make them gag, and allowing them time to get used to the taste of new foods through repeated exposure to them. The results of this approach, which usually takes 8-10 sessions, are encouraging: “…with treatment, picky eaters can make great strides.”
Although we have only met with Alex’s speech therapist three times, we have seen her use a similar approach with him. After noting the foods that he will eat, she has offered suggestions about foods he can try at home that are similar to the ones he is currently eating. For example, since he likes applesauce, she suggested that he try different flavors of applesauce, and he discovered that he also likes cinnamon-flavored and strawberry-flavored applesauce. This way, he is expanding his palate to accept new flavors with familiar textures and temperatures. In addition, since he likes orange juice, she recommended that he try Mandarin oranges, which have a similar flavor to his favorite beverage but a different texture. In his most recent session, she asked him to try warm apple pie filling, which is similar to applesauce in taste but offers a different texture and temperature.
Thankfully, Alex has been willing to follow her suggestions, and we have been able to expand his limited menu with some new fruits. However, he has definite ideas about things he refuses to eat, even angrily telling us in his last session that he didn’t want to eat the Honey Nut Cheerios we’d offered him. Despite Alex’s rare yelling outburst, his therapist assured us that she loves working with him and considers our family “a blessing” to her. Moreover, she reassured Alex by telling him most crunchy foods aren’t that nutritious anyway, so he doesn’t have to eat them. If we had any doubts, God was reminding us what a blessing he’d given us in Alex’s speech therapist.
In the month since beginning food aversion therapy, the progress has been slow, but we are grateful that Alex has been willing to try new foods. The other day, however, we were surprised when out of the blue, Alex requested chili dogs for dinner. Neither cold nor smooth, they didn’t fit his preferred diet, and the spiciness of the chili seemed out of the ordinary for him. Since Alex had not given me advance notice, I had to improvise and make him a hot dog with leftover taco meat. To my surprise he ate every bit and enjoyed it thoroughly.
Not wanting to get my hopes up, I dismissed this chili dog incident as a fluke. The next day, he again asked for chili dogs. Had my faith been stronger, I would have made chili in preparation for this new food request. Instead, I could only offer taco meat dogs on the spur of the moment. Again, Alex ate this second-rate chili dog happily. Still not quite believing this small miracle God had given, I was taken aback when Alex again asked for a chili dog the next day yet seemed satisfied with the substitute taco dog. Every day, I thanked God for this breakthrough and prayed that this was a sign we were making headway on Alex overcoming his food aversion.
Yesterday, I decided to test how strong Alex’s breakthrough was by suggesting that we take him to a hot dog stand and get him a real chili dog. Since we had not been to this restaurant in over a year, Alex was eager to go because it was “special.” After ordering his hot dog with no bun and chili on the side, I had doubts that he would eat the chili dog, especially away from home. However, God provided another small miracle as Alex devoured the chili dog and proclaimed he liked it “one hundred percent.” For most people, this simple act would be rather meaningless; for us, it was an answer to many daily prayers.
Even though we don’t know how long before or even if Alex will totally regain his varied appetite, we are encouraged by the amazing progress we have witnessed this week. God has provided us with a therapist who understands Alex’s needs and has offered us support and a good plan to help him overcome his food aversion. As we continue to seek daily blessings and pray for breakthroughs, we are grateful for all the progress Alex has made over the years. For today, Alex has requested chili and a baked potato from Wendy’s fast food restaurant for dinner. In the words of poet Walt Whitman, “What stranger miracles are there?”
For over a year, we have been trying to help Alex regain his healthy and hearty appetite. Although many people with autism have issues with eating, we were blessed with a child who would happily devour nearly any food placed before him. After a nasty bout of thrush last summer made Alex’s mouth and throat sore and made food taste bad, he has had difficulty overcoming the loss of appetite, even months after medications eradicated the thrush.
For more than a year, his self-imposed diet consists almost exclusively of cool and smooth foods: applesauce, dairy-free yogurt, a few fruits, lemon pudding, Jello, and smoothies. We have tried various approaches to increase both the variety and volume of what Alex eats on a daily basis. However, we must always be careful that our encouragement to eat doesn’t become pressure to perform that may trigger anxiety.
After months of prayer and gently persuading Alex to try different foods, we decided to take him to a speech therapist his primary care doctor had recommended for food aversion. Immediately impressed by her understanding of why Alex’s appetite suddenly changed as well as by her warmth and kindness toward Alex and us, we felt hopeful that she could help him. Moreover, we were relieved to discover nothing was physically wrong with Alex’s ability to eat; he simply has sensory issues and anxiety about eating.
Last week, I found an excellent article on the Child Mind Institute website that explains food aversion clearly and offers helpful tips. [To read this article, please click here.] In “More Than Picky Eating,” Rachel Ehmke notes, “Kids with a serious aversion to many foods may need help with food habits and overcoming avoidance.” She goes on to say, “Their aversion goes beyond normal choosiness and into an area where parents find they need to call for backup.” Clearly, this reinforced our decision to seek the expertise of a speech therapist regarding Alex’s new aversion to food.
In the article, she explains potential reasons why children limit their diets, namely, anxiety issues and/or heightened senses of smell and taste. Specifically, she describes fears of trying new things, worries about choking, and issues with textures. With Alex, he seems to be more driven by sensory issues––taste, texture, and temperature. However, he also seems to have anxiety about the act of eating, and he is trying to deal with his fears by reading medical books. For him, knowledge is power. Of course, we have tried to reassure him, as well.
The article goes on to explain using exposure therapy, working with foods that have been avoided “in a carefully controlled, therapeutic way.” Children are encouraged to try new foods and rate them, eating foods that don’t make them gag, and allowing them time to get used to the taste of new foods through repeated exposure to them. The results of this approach, which usually takes 8-10 sessions, are encouraging: “…with treatment, picky eaters can make great strides.”
Although we have only met with Alex’s speech therapist three times, we have seen her use a similar approach with him. After noting the foods that he will eat, she has offered suggestions about foods he can try at home that are similar to the ones he is currently eating. For example, since he likes applesauce, she suggested that he try different flavors of applesauce, and he discovered that he also likes cinnamon-flavored and strawberry-flavored applesauce. This way, he is expanding his palate to accept new flavors with familiar textures and temperatures. In addition, since he likes orange juice, she recommended that he try Mandarin oranges, which have a similar flavor to his favorite beverage but a different texture. In his most recent session, she asked him to try warm apple pie filling, which is similar to applesauce in taste but offers a different texture and temperature.
Thankfully, Alex has been willing to follow her suggestions, and we have been able to expand his limited menu with some new fruits. However, he has definite ideas about things he refuses to eat, even angrily telling us in his last session that he didn’t want to eat the Honey Nut Cheerios we’d offered him. Despite Alex’s rare yelling outburst, his therapist assured us that she loves working with him and considers our family “a blessing” to her. Moreover, she reassured Alex by telling him most crunchy foods aren’t that nutritious anyway, so he doesn’t have to eat them. If we had any doubts, God was reminding us what a blessing he’d given us in Alex’s speech therapist.
In the month since beginning food aversion therapy, the progress has been slow, but we are grateful that Alex has been willing to try new foods. The other day, however, we were surprised when out of the blue, Alex requested chili dogs for dinner. Neither cold nor smooth, they didn’t fit his preferred diet, and the spiciness of the chili seemed out of the ordinary for him. Since Alex had not given me advance notice, I had to improvise and make him a hot dog with leftover taco meat. To my surprise he ate every bit and enjoyed it thoroughly.
Not wanting to get my hopes up, I dismissed this chili dog incident as a fluke. The next day, he again asked for chili dogs. Had my faith been stronger, I would have made chili in preparation for this new food request. Instead, I could only offer taco meat dogs on the spur of the moment. Again, Alex ate this second-rate chili dog happily. Still not quite believing this small miracle God had given, I was taken aback when Alex again asked for a chili dog the next day yet seemed satisfied with the substitute taco dog. Every day, I thanked God for this breakthrough and prayed that this was a sign we were making headway on Alex overcoming his food aversion.
Yesterday, I decided to test how strong Alex’s breakthrough was by suggesting that we take him to a hot dog stand and get him a real chili dog. Since we had not been to this restaurant in over a year, Alex was eager to go because it was “special.” After ordering his hot dog with no bun and chili on the side, I had doubts that he would eat the chili dog, especially away from home. However, God provided another small miracle as Alex devoured the chili dog and proclaimed he liked it “one hundred percent.” For most people, this simple act would be rather meaningless; for us, it was an answer to many daily prayers.
Even though we don’t know how long before or even if Alex will totally regain his varied appetite, we are encouraged by the amazing progress we have witnessed this week. God has provided us with a therapist who understands Alex’s needs and has offered us support and a good plan to help him overcome his food aversion. As we continue to seek daily blessings and pray for breakthroughs, we are grateful for all the progress Alex has made over the years. For today, Alex has requested chili and a baked potato from Wendy’s fast food restaurant for dinner. In the words of poet Walt Whitman, “What stranger miracles are there?”
“He does great things too marvelous to understand. He
performs countless miracles.” Job 5:9
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