Expert: Catherine Ridenour - 1/1/2012

Question
My friend has a 5 yr old who is Diagnosed Autistic. He is high functioning, but has a SEVERE fear of animals. ANY and ALL animals freak him out. Even birds flying overhead scare him. How can she help him. She is sooo alone and is not getting the help she needs to work with him. She lives in Texas and Jacob has a limited Vocabulary. He also will not eat but a few things. He is very tiny for his age and she worries about his nutrition. She has tried different recipes to sneak veggies into his diet and nothing works.

Answer
Hi Christina,

Let's start with the limited vocabulary. It's important to remember that he may have far better received language skills than output skills. That means he may understand even if he cannot respond verbally. His speech therapist should be giving his mom information about how well he can understand and ways to integrate language development into his daily routine.

My take on it is to talk to the child as if he understands. If necessary repeat and demonstrate the response desired. Encourage talking by not responding to grunts, whines and pointing. If he wants a cookie, he has to attempt to say "cookie". Any reasonable verbal response is acceptable, at first. If he can get the K sound out, that's progress.

Now to food: Limited eating is common in these kids. I think it's important to identify what it is he likes about what he will eat and what he dislikes about what he won't eat. Is it color, texture, smell, etc.? Try adding foods that match his preferences. Sneaking veggies in can work only if you can disguise it in something like mashed potatoes or baked goods. You have to go slow adding only a very little and building up over time.

When kids help prepare food, they are more likely to eat it. In a child this young, even playing with food is a way to get some of it into his mouth. Mash some cooked carrots (orange) or cooked spinach (green) into mashed potatoes and paint a plate with it. He will identify the smell with fun. Later, he may be willing to eat it. This is messy but can be very effective.

Dipping sauces are another option. If he likes cheese, use it!

Animals move in unpredictable ways. I'm betting he is afraid of their sudden movements and sounds. Start by getting one small fish like a guppy, beta or a fantail gold fish. These all move slowly and have attractive colors. Set up a small tank in the home but don't make a big deal of it. Let him get used to it being there. As he becomes accustomed to it and, hopefully, interested in it, let him feed the fish. Add more fish, one at a time.

Watching some animal programs on television may help. Mute the sound, at first. Then watch with the volume very low. This kind of therapy is widely used to treat phobias. Read books about animals. There are lots of children's stories about puppies and such.

If he will accept a stuffed toy that looks semi-realistic, try a bunny rabbit or other soft but quiet animal.

All these things take time and patience. I would counsel that what gets attention is reinforced so making a big deal about a panic attack over seeing an animal can make it worse. When a bird flies over and he panics, just go on with whatever was the activity. He will learn that there is no profit in it.

I hope this is helpful. Encourage his mother to write to me if she has more questions.