Expert: Valerie Herskowitz - 11/23/2010

Question
hi i have a 10 year old autistic boy and lately weve noticed a significant decrease in appetite where he will only eat 1 or 2 things a day and even then he mostly throws it back up on purpose we think it may be several things such as his school is working on the food pyramid and he is also being teased kids calling him fat at school weve spoken to the school and they dont have many answers hes been to the hospital and they cant find anything physically wrong with him hes always been a big boy he was born 9 pound 1 ounce we just dont know what to do weve tried incentives and social stories but nothing works please help.

Answer
Hi Catherine

So he had an endoscopy to rule out reflux? So many of our kids with autism have GI issues, that it is possible that your son has something in that area.

However, if everything medical was checked out, then I am going to suspect there is a sensory component to it rather than a social reason. If he is throwing back up what he eats then something about it is making him queasy. Do you work with an eating specialist? There are OT's that specialize in this-sometimes speech therapists. They can work to help your son reduce the sensory repulsion he is having to the foods.Then you can add in behavioral methods, but behavioral techniques alone without addressing the sensory will not be successful.

What are the food that he will eat? And which ones is he throwing up?

Meanwhile, make sure you are supplementing his diet with Ensure or Pediasure-talk to your pediatrician. You certainly don't want your son to have a lack of important vitamins and minerals.