Feeding, Eating and Drinking

Many autistic children have needs which affect their eating and drinking skills.  Eating and drinking are complex tasks which require many physical, cognitive and emotional skills.

 

If your child has difficulties with swallowing – gagging or coughing, choking, changes to colour or breathing, wet sounding voice or repeated chest infections - you should seek advice from your GP, Health Visitor or School Nurse as soon as possible.

 

Factors which may impact a child’s eating and drinking

Factors include:

  • Sensory differences: strong reactions to textures, tastes and smells and the visual aspects.
  • Difficulties in recognising hunger, thirst and fullness.
  • Differences in motor skills: picking up and moving food to the mouth, sitting at a table, managing cutlery, moving food in the mouth, sucking, chewing, swallowing.
  • Social environment: sitting at a table with others and manging the complex interactions and demands this may bring.
  • Feeling safe when things are the same: needing the same foods, brands, plates and cups.
  • Strong interests and attention to detail: some children feel uncomfortable eating items which are not whole, for example of broken biscuit, or older children may become focused on only eating a certain type of cuisine or style of food.

 

It is important to remember that most autistic children do manage to meet their nutritional needs, even though their experiences and interests in eating and drinking may be very different from yours. Humans need the nutrients and energy from food, but our bodies don’t mind about the specific recipes and meals that give us those nutrients and energy.

 

Helping your child with eating and drinking starts with ensuring they feel regulated, safe and that their sensory needs are met.

 

Write down the things that seem to help your child, and the things that cause them distress. Use a food diary to record the foods they enjoy eating and those they struggle with, as well as any other factors which you think might have contributed such as where they were eating, the time of day, noise and lighting levels.

 

 

Ideas which may help

  • Lowering demands around eating and drinking:
    • Not trying to force, bribe or persuade your child to eat foods that make them anxious or distressed.
    • Acknowledging that your child may need move around in between bites of food rather than sit at a table, sit on the floor or use alternative seating.
    • Recognise that some aspects of you family culture such as a roast dinner every Sunday, or spicy traditional dishes may need to be adapted.
    • Reducing the social demands of mealtimes – this could look like sitting together and ensuring one person talks at a times or allowing an older child to wear headphones.
    • Try breakfast foods at dinner, or dinner foods at breakfast – autistic children may not have fixed ideas which match our own typical daily routine of foods.
  • Engage your child with eating and drinking in ways which are meaningful to them:
    • Create opportunities for positive experiences with foods and drinks through messy play.
    • Let your child chose cutlery, plates, cups and mats – which may reflect their sensory needs or interests such as a favourite character or colour.
    • Learn about the science of food – helping children see food as fuel can often be a useful approach.
    • Involve your child in shopping and cooking.
    • Create a simple family menu together.
    • Watch a favourite TV programme or character which involves eating or drinking and join in.
    • Provide communication supports for your child and model them by using them too – such as visual menus, or symbol communication to say “yum”, “yuk” or “I’m full now!”
    • Change the location – blanket picnics in the living room, a snack in the bath

 

 

More information on feeding difficulties

 

 

 

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