Autism and Food Issues

Autism can affect the way people are with food. One of those issues is pickiness, but that is a topic for another day. Children with autism can also get completely focused on food and desire to consume food in ways and amounts not considered appropriate.

We just had a visit with our two children with autism. Our son is not too bad. He is mainly focused on fruit. If there is a bunch of bananas out in the open in the kitchen, he will finish it off one by one. He will do the same thing if there is a bag of apples. He would think nothing of having a dozen apples, one after another.

We have more issues with our daughter. We have to hide the hot chocolate mix when she visits because she will eat it by the handful. She once mistook cinnamon for hot chocolate. That was interesting. She chugs maple syrup from the bottle. When she lived with us in a previous city, we needed a door on our kitchen to keep her out. We don't have that option here. During her visits, she probably rushes to the kitchen every 10-15 minutes to try and get food. It can be stressful. There is a reason why there is a door to the kitchen at her group home.

I know that our children are not the only ones like this. While not everyone with autism has these issues, I have talked to other parents who have experienced this.

This is a part of what it is like to live with autism.