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Friday, December 12, 2008

Alex's Appetite

Any mom with autistic kids knows the frustrations
of their eating habits. Most have very limited diets...
self inflicted mental lists of what they can and cannot eat.
Many live on only a few items of food and have those things
for every meal. My three boys used to only eat potato chips,
Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, yogurt (specific brand and flavor)
and baby food veggies.....period. Nothing else...ever....
All three have drastically improved in adding fresh fruit, some proteins
and changing the baby food to canned green beans and carrots.
It was so nice at the time to stop buying those expensive baby veggies
for 9 year olds when that happened!
They are still quite strict about sticking to their list, even though it has
expanded somewhat over the years.
Alex has always been interested in what I'm cooking up in the kitchen.
He comes in and takes a peek in the oven or lifts the lid on a simmering pot.
He won't always try things, but I can tell he is interested!
Well, over the past few weeks he has tried and liked several new things!
He has eaten and loved a roast beef sandwich, turkey pot pie,
chicken and noodles and the newest addition...vegetable beef soup!
It does this mother's heart a lot of good!
Yea, Alex! Now if his brothers would just loosen up a little!

22 comments:

  1. Betsy!! This is just awesome! I am sooooo proud of Alex...all your delicious meals....you KNOW he smells them and they smell good yet to try them is such a risk!!!!!
    Maybe Spence and Harry will expand a bit more too.

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  2. Jill ~It is awesome. Most people just wouldn't understand the significance.

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  3. Way to go Alex!

    You are always cooking something delicious... I guess I just assumed "the boys" love what you serve. Your autism posts never fail to give me a better understanding of what raising children with autism is like. Thanks for your transparency.

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  4. How exciting! My ds is 7 now and I think he will eat an extremely specifically made grilled cheese sandwich for supper every night for the rest of his life. This gives me hope. :)

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  5. Mommy of the year! Can I bring Adam over? He will not try anything

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  6. Your delicious cooking has caused someting amazing to happen!

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  7. Maybe they will follow! How wonderful for you and Alex!

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  8. MG ~ no, believe it or not, the triplets don't even sit down to dinner with us! They get sick and actually can throw up sometimes just looking at our food! I feed them dinner right when they get home from school since they are hungry and it's a completely different thing to prepare. Actually it's different between the three of them, too! Alex has been eating his normal dinner and then wanting to try what we are having, too! Yea! I almost cried with joy today sending a roast beef sandwich to school in his lunch box! :)

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  9. that is so encouraging for you, i'm sure!! i'm touched by this story!

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  10. Yay! That's great! Good for Alex!! :D

    Now I'm feeling hungry.

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  11. Betsy, this gives me such hope! We too are on the potato chips and cinnamon toast crunch diet.
    Way to go Alex! Example is power.

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  12. You're right when you said in the one comment that most people wouldn't understand the significance. I wouldn't have. Thanks for sharing. You're a special mom to three special boys. I can kind of imagine the heart swell you might be feeling. Thanks for sharing the story with us.
    ~ Kayren

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  13. Blessing you my friend. Have a good weekend. Strider

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  14. That's awesome, Betsy! Thank you for sharing these struggles and triumphs with us, it definitely helps me understand autism more.

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  15. I, too, thought the triplets ate all your yummy looking food. I can relate totally with you about a limited menu. Avery only eats like five foods in the world and Mac and Cheese are the main staple in her life. She just doesn't want to try anything new. It's the same old, same old. The hardest thing is when we visit someone's home or are invited out to eat by someone and people so many times act like it's the worst thing in the world that she only eats a couple of things. She's a good girl and this is the way she is. Thanks so much for sharing. I always love to read about your family.

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  16. THIS IS FANTASTIC!!!!! i am so happy for you...feeling your joys!

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  17. Oh I can totally relate to this post! Noah is STILL very much on a selected few foods diet....and it also HAS to be BRAND NAME and no other...he can tell substitutions. he will only eat baby food stage 3 bananas.....and now apple slices (real kind!). NO veggies .....other than frozen hashbrown potatoes of French fries.....he has tried thinly slice carrot strips.....but not many....and usually will not eat them. sigh....he has come a little ways....but some other foods he used to eat he now will no longer eat. He will give me specific ages of when he gets older where he MIGHT try eating X again....

    Noah is interested in what I cook too...and says things smell good. I know he is getting bored with his usual couple of choices (Kraft mac and cheese....Domino's pizza....hashbrown or fries...and sometimes my grilled chicken. That is pretty much it. Occasionally cereal like shredded wheat or cocoa puffs....or maybe Cheerios...and of course he will eat chicken nugget kids meals out..

    but limited I can understand. He will be 10 on December 29 and I was hoping by now he would be trying more...but he is getting there.

    I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU AND ALEX and the progress!

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  18. I can also relate to other's comments here about the SPECIFICALLY prepared foods! Noah is the same way! ANY alteration from the norm for him and he will not eat it.

    He never eats with me or what I fix for myself either. That would be a rare thing.....he can also gag by the smell of certain foods

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  19. Melinda ~ I can tell my other two are bored with their food, just like you said. And who wouldn't be...literally hundreds of meals all the same!

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  20. Its wonderful he is trying new food.

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