Breaking the Cycle of Food Selectivity: How MEAL PlanR Supports Autistic Children and Their Families

• By: E. Emilie Weiner, MA, BCBA Alexis Bancroft, PhD Cynthia Martin, PsyD The Child Mind Institute
• April 4th, 2025
• feeding challenges, food selectivity, interventions, nutrition, parent-mediated therapy, picky eating, Spring 2025 Issue, therapy
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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.,...

Beyond Picky Eating: Supporting Lifelong Health in Autistic Children

• By: Marta Chmielowicz Autism Speaks
• April 4th, 2025
• children, eating, eating and food, feeding challenges, food, food selectivity, health, healthy eating, mealtime routines, nutrition, picky eating, sensory issues, sensory sensitivities, Spring 2025 Issue
• 4567    0

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,...

The Costs of Raising a Teenage Son with Autism

• By: Jeff Stimpson
• October 1st, 2013
• caregiving challenges, employment stress, family impact, father, financial burden, food, food selectivity, long-term care uncertainty, sensory behaviors
• 2392    0

Researchers at the Children’s Institute, a not-for-profit organization affiliated with the University of Rochester, NY, studied the connection between autism and the hemorrhage of cash a family endures when one of their own has the condition. “It’s a disorder that seems to have an impact on...