Autism/My Autistic Child

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Expert: - 3/26/2008


Question
My daughter Jordan will be 4 years old on April the 2nd 2008. My daughter does not eat much of anything. What she does eat is the same thing all the time. I feel that she may not be very healthy and was wondering if there is something I can do, or get her on vitamins?

Answer
Hi Deanna,

I really recommend seeing your GP and get her blood checked first to see if she has any vitamin or mineral deficiencies. Your GP can then tell you if she should take some vitamins and which brand and dose would be appropriate for a child her age. Please don't try this on your own as some vitamins can also do harm and I reckon that most supplements available are ment for adults (the dose may be way to high for a child).
Probably your doctor could refer you to a nutritionist who could help you figuring out how to put together meals your daughter will eat with appropriate amounts of vitamins and minerals.
I used to be a very picky eater myself as a child (didn't really eat anything but mashed carrots, sometimes plain bread and chocolate/other sweets) until I was around 4 years old. These days I eat lots of things, but some I will only eat when cooked in one way but not in any other way. I like to eat fried potatoes, crisps and chips, but cooked or mashed potatoes make me gag. I also hate the texture of beef and pork (although I can eat it by now occasionally) and hate the taste and feel of fat in my mouth, but will happily eat chicken and fish.
Probably you could experiment with textures and things (maybe your daughter doesen't like soft textures in her mouth, so you could try to make her eat raw or stir fried (but still crisp) veggies, or she's the opposite and hates eating anything crunchy so getting a blender would be an idea. Experiment with different forms of textures (crunchy or smooth) and tastes and smells (lots of spices, or no spices at all), but please don't force her into eating somethings she really doesn't like (but try to coax her into trying at least a little bit of each meal).
Hope this helps,
C.

Autism

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*DISCLAIMER*

Please note I am not a healthcare professional or a doctor.
I cannot provide a diagnosis or give any medical advice.
Therefore I cannot answer questions like "is my child autistic ?" other than by telling you to go and see a specialist
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Please be aware that if you are in the US it will usually take at least 24 hours until I can answer your question, as I'm in Europe and don't have access to my email during the day. I also cannot answer questions concerning the US educational or law system (other than by looking up things on google, but that's probably not the expertise you need), as I'm not in the US.
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Please also be aware that I'm a person with autism. My answers may sometimes be very blunt and direct and I may tell you things you won't like to hear. Diplomacy is certainly not among my talents. I'm never being rude on purpose, and I always try not to hurt or offend people, but it has happened before and may happen again. It's NEVER on purpose. I just want to help.
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What I *can* do for you is gather information on any aspect of autism and therapy of autism you're interested in and give you my personal oppinion about it (if you want to hear it) or, if it applies, tell you about my personal experience. I can answer all questions about what life is like for an autistic person.

I can also answer questions asked in German or French (but will have to answer in English to questions asked in French as my French is a bit rusty).

Ich beantworte gerne auch Fragen auf Deutsch.

Vous pouvez poser des questions en Francais, si cela ne vous dérange pas que je responds en anglais.

Experience


As I'm not doing well right now and am not in the shape of answering questions well - I recieved a few low ratings lately - I'll take a break from AllExperts for the next few weeks/until I'm doing better

I am an adult diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome/High Functioning Autism and ADD.

In the past years I have also read a lot about autism and its comorbid conditions and related subjects (as I am experiencing symptoms of most of these or know others who do) , so I have accumulated a lot of layman knowledge in this area (AD(H)D, Tourette's Syndrome, OCD, sleep disorders, allergies, sensory integration dysfunction, learning difficulties, left/right-brain, giftedness, Irlen Syndrome, prism glasses, executive dysfunction (aka. "inertia"), "special" diets).

Education/Credentials
None in the field of autism, apart from being autistic myself !

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