“Food for Thought” 75% of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder experience atypical eating patterns and have limited food preferences.

Tips to support good eating

• Routines: Establish clear routines around meals and snacks. Try to ensure that they occur at consistent times.Provide a setting with minimal distractions.
• Seating: Ensure that the child is sitting in a chair that provides ample support (child size chairs/booster with foot rest) and provide modified dishes and utensils if necessary (for example, a weighted spoon).
• Portion size: Small is better. Smaller portions allow the child to see results after taking a few bites and requesting more food is a communication opportunity.
• Encourage food exploration: Provide opportunities for the child to play with and explore new foods. Be creative about games and activities that involve new foods.Use peers and yourself as a model to demonstrate exploring new foods.
• Motivation: Use “First – Then” boards to show the reinforcement available after eating. (“First carrots – Then juice”).

Food Facts

• Typically developing children need to see a food 10-15 times before they will taste it. A child with ASD is likely to need even more exposure before they will try the food.
• A typically developing toddler will eat one “good” meal every 48 hours. This means 1 out of 6 meals are “good” and 5 out of 6 are not.Have realistic expectations about what the child with ASD will eat.
• Typically developing children have food preferences. Not every child likes every food. This is true for children with ASD as well.
• Some children become dependent on prompts and wait for the adult to assist them before they make any type of response.

Source:
Geneva Centre for Autism
112 Merton Street, Toronto, Ontario, M4S 2Z8
Tel: (416) 322-7877 – Toll Free: 1-866-Geneva-9 – Fax: (416) 322-5894
www.autism.net