Expert: Valerie Herskowitz - 10/16/2010

Question
Hi,
I am currently working with a 6 year old student who has Autism. It has come to my attention that he has a VERY limited diet that concerns me. He is very defensive to sensory input and is not willing to try any new foods. Currenly the only foods he will eat are:

*potato chips
*some cookies
*popcorn & pretzels
*fruit sticks
*Fruit juice
*McDonalds fries
*some peperoni
*yogurt
*bananas

...and that is pretty much it. He is somewhat underweight and has trouble with hyperactivity and attention. Is there something that can be done to help him increase his diet?  I am concerned about the lack of protein especially.

His speech path and OT  have given some suggestions to his therapists - but there has not been anything that really seems to help. I am convinced that a healthier diet could improve his attention span, and maybe help his development. Currently he is non-verbal and fairly low functioning...although not academically.
I would appreciate any suggestions of what could be done to help his diet.
Thank you so much.

Answer
Hi Una
I do see that his diet is very limited. He needs to be working with a therapist that has feeding experience-either OT or ST. Changing a person's diet involved diligent and consistent work. Is there someone you can recommend to the family? This can be accomplished, but it does require someone with a great deal of experience in this area. We work on it from a sensory and behavioral approach.