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Breaking the Cycle of Food Selectivity: How MEAL PlanR Supports Autistic Children and Their Families
Limited and picking eating is a common occurrence for children with autism. Feeding challenges include food selectivity, food refusal, behavioral rigidity during meals, and limited dietary variety (Sharp et al., 2013). Upwards of 89% of autistic individuals have feeding difficulties (Cermak et al.,...
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Navigating Health as an Autistic Picky Eater
Like most, if not virtually all autistics, I lived with a variety of sensory sensitivities my entire life. As a child, I was extremely averse to certain visual stimuli (particularly camera flashes), specific kinds of sounds, and the motion of an elevator. Luckily, these subsided as I got older. Two...
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Beyond Picky Eating: Supporting Lifelong Health in Autistic Children
Picky eating in autism is more than just a childhood phase. Research shows that atypical eating behaviors—such as extreme food selectivity and hypersensitivity to textures—are common in autistic children. One study found that 70% of children with autism display atypical eating patterns,...
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The Silent Roadblock: Understanding the Ripple Effects of Feeding Difficulties on the Spectrum
While it’s widely documented that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects social interaction, communication, and behavior, there is a less spotlighted, yet pivotal, piece to these neurodivergent children: feeding difficulties. It’s estimated that up to 80% of autistic children have some form of...
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Evaluating and Treating Restrictive Eating in Children with Autism
Picky eating is common for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Autistic individuals often show atypical eating patterns and have more difficulty with mealtime behaviors in comparison to their non-autistic peers (Christensen et al., 2019; Mayes & Zickgraf, 2019; Sharp et al., 2013)....
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Why So Many Autistic Individuals Have Eating Disorders
Eating disorders have a devastating effect on the lives of those affected and are associated with the highest mortality rates of all mental illnesses. While they can affect anyone, there is a higher incidence of people with autism who have eating disorders compared to the general population....
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A Selective Eating Program: MEALLS Making Eating A Lifelong Learning Skill
Feeding and eating problems, such as selective eating, is common among individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The prevalence of feeding problems in children with ASD is reported to be as high as 90%, with around 70% of individuals being described as picky eaters (Twachtman-Reilly et al.,...
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Understanding Dietary Distress, Forced Eating, and Food Deserts While Autistic
My name is Sylvia, and I’m an Autistic adult with sensory hypersensitivities that mainly affect my eating, which I’m choosing to call dietary hypersensitivities, or, more simply, food/drink hypersensitivities. For me, these hypersensitivities are oversensitivities based on any combination of...
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Obesity and Related Issues in Individuals with ASD: The Scope of the Problem and Potential Solutions
Obesity is a major problem around the world and in the United States for individuals with and without disabilities. The World Health Organization (2011) identified childhood obesity as one of the most serious public health risks in this century (Alwan, 2011). Obesity rates in the United States have...
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Exercise and Dietary Choices: Practical Advice Drawn from a Review of Current Literature
Obesity rates for children in the U.S. have risen significantly over the last decade. Currently one third of all children between the ages of 2 and 19 years in the general population are described as overweight or obese (Curtin, Jojic, & Bandini, 2014). Drawing from data provided in the...
