Improving Mealtimes for Children on the Autism Spectrum
Helping your child to eat a balanced meal is often difficult for many parents. Parents with children on the spectrum find that feeding their children nutritious meals is one of the biggest challenges for them.
Some children may limit what they eat to the extent that it can result in the child experiencing severe nutritional deficiencies. This can lead to problems like weight loss, malnutrition and growth problems.
What can be done if you find that mealtime is more of a battleground than a bonding time? The following advice may be of some help.
Take Note of the Areas Where you Struggle
Make a comprehensive list of foods that your child absolutely will not eat.
Try to document:
- where you were
- the time of day,
- how the food was presented
- what happened (what was the reaction?)
This will help you as the parent to spot and identify their eating patterns and what you can do differently. Once you’ve done this, make a list of foods you would like them to eat. If your child suffers from nutritional deficiencies, try to make this list as nutritionally balanced as possible.
Use Routine and Predictability to Your Advantage
It’s no secret that children with autism love routine. It’s in your best interest to make the most of this. Make it a routine to all sit-down and dine together as a family. You can try to make meal-times visual with a schedule so your child grows to expect it and knows what’s coming at what time.
While you may continue to serve them foods they are familiar with, try introducing new foods along with these. They may have to work their way up to the new item, but rewarding the behavior with positive reinforcement is strongly encouraged.
For example, if your child is struggling with broccoli but manages to take a few small bites, a few pieces of their favorite snack or candy could be provided. A personal favorite in our household is using M&M’s as a reward.
The goal in this is to have the food in question become its own reinforcer. Once the child realizes that the unfamiliar food is good and it becomes familiar, they begin to enjoy it, lessening the stress around meal times.
Another variation of this could be during breakfast times. If your child enjoys waffles of pancakes for breakfast, continue to serve him these foods, but make it a point to add a bowl of fruit on the side. For each piece of fruit that is eaten, a small treat should be provided. As they eat, be sure to commend and encourage them.
Modifying and Substituting Foods
While we may simply find some textures unpleasant, these same textures could be impossible for your child to overcome. Remember to be flexible in this area of your food management. Sometimes, no matter how much you plead with them, some foods are best written off.
With the number of foods we have available, play around with different combinations. For example, if a typical Caesar salad is a definite no in your household, why not try a broccoli salad? If they don’t seem to like chicken, try swapping it out for catfish or salmon.
Chopped and moist foods seem to go over well with even the pickiest of eaters. Give mashed potatoes or moist ham a try along with other familiar foods to broaden their horizons.
It may even be beneficial to try freezing some food. One mom found that frozen peas were a success in her household as a snack. Peas are small and can be eaten as finger food, making them fun to eat for children.
It may not be the flavor your child is aversed to, only the texture. I suggest that you try chopping foods smaller or blending certain foods to change the texture they dislike. Or eliminate this completely by hiding it in something they already like.
There are so many different ways to cook fruits and vegetables. For example, if they dislike the squishiness of blueberries, offer smoothies instead or cook them into a compote that can be served along with a neutral food.
Model the Desired Behavior
This goes back to having everyone sit down and dine together. When your children sit together with their family at the table, have both parents and other children, if present, model the behavior you would like your child to imitate.
Sit down, and at a reasonable pace, finish the food on your plate. Shower them with praise when improvements are shown, and everyone at the table can contribute. Let them know they are being like mom and dad or their older siblings. This can go a long way to implementing good table manners.
Don’t Reinforce Bad Behavior
This is the flip side of the previous tip. Many children on the spectrum struggle to communicate and may feel that throwing tantrum is their best option.
Parents should reward good behavior and remove reinforcement for behaviors that are undesirable, such as throwing food or spitting.
If a child is refusing food to receive attention, a parent may find that it is useful to give attention when they are eating properly but not to attend to them when they are refusing to do so.
Encourage Communication Through Choices
If your son or daughter struggles with verbalizing, try providing them with alternative ways to tell you about their likes and dislikes. Showing them pictures of food and having them sort them can give you a great idea about what to prepare and what foods need to be introduced. You could then display what meals will be served on a visual chart ahead of time. By allocating your child a sense of control and letting them know what to expect, their mealtime anxiety is reduced.
To recap:
- Make a list of foods you would like to implement
- Offer rewards to encourage eating
- Be open to changing textures to make food more appealing
- Clearly model the desired behavior
- Reward good behavior and ignore less desirable behavior
- Encourage them to communicate by providing choices
The most important thing to remember as a parent is to just do your best. Your child may never eat everything that is put in front of them, but you can play a big role in expanding their eating horizons. Not only this, but mealtimes can become more enjoyable for everyone involved.
