I have a 15 year old autistic son who has become a picky eater and is losing weight . Can anyone help?

Question

He is very thin and will only eat certain things. He has never done this before. He has always ate everything.

Answer 1

Since  this a recent occurrence and what in his environment may have caused that new behavior?  

One of the greatest concerns about autism and picky eaters is that autistic children don't always have the same reaction to physical discomfort and pain as do typically developing individuals.  Whereas a typical child will eventually eat something they may not like because the pain of hunger overrides the dislike of a certain food, children with autism can become starved or malnourished because they developed a  negative association with food.  First, I would look for clues in his environment that could have started this change in his eating behavior and second I would try to pair food with highly desirable activities.  For example if your son really likes to watch a certain video or play a certain game then make a deal with him that if he eats a certain amount of food then he will have access to his favorite activity.  Start out small and work your way up, depending on how resistant he is at first.  Not knowing how severe your son is, it is difficult to make suggestions.   Also you can check out  parent forums online to see what other parents have done.

Answer 2

This reminds me of my cousin who had another illness and would only eat cucumbers.

I don't feel like I have the energy to engage in food battles because they are too frequent. I only intervene when the kids are eating too much sugar or salt.

At 15, you want him to gain weight, so I'd make that your goal. Have plenty of food available that he likes. Pizzas and cheeseburgers can contain the four food groups although they are fatty which isn't the worse since a weight gain is called for. I'd go for high calorie food since he isn't eating all that much. How about milkshakes?

I have a program for my kids that may work for yours. When they accomplish a task I want them to do, they get a $1 gift coupon to a food store. Some of the ones I use are McDonalds, Wendy's, Dairy Queen, Subway, Chipotle and Starbucks. Nowadays, most of these places only have $5 coupons, but McDonalds still has $1 coupons or you can make your own. Then the kids trade in some of the $1 coupons for $5 gift cards. I don't know the extent of your son's autism and whether or not this would work for him, but what it does do is it makes food into a prize. This isn't a good thing for fat kids or maybe even normal kids, but it may be a good thing for your son as long as he doesn't go in the other direction. You save on your grocery store bill, the kids do what you want and you only spend a little more on food than you otherwise would.

Answer 3

I had a student (for 2 years) that ate the same thing for lunch and dinner every day, 7 days a week, year 'round.  I was always amazed that he was so reluctant to go outside of his comfort zone...even when another student brought in birthday cupcakes.  He would take a cupcake like everyone else, but then throw it away, untouched, at the end of the class celebration.

Since your son is 15 and is capable of making his own decisions...would he go to the store with you (go early on the weekend when it is virtually empty) and pick 5 things that he would eat?

He is at the age where his hormones are changing...it may be that his sense of smell has changed or that he does not like certain textures or temperatures anymore.

Keep a journal of the things that he WILL eat and see if there are any common characteristics (color, smell, taste, texture) - this may help.

Is he on any medications?  If so, see his doctor.  It may be time to readjust his dosage.

Answer 4

My youngest son, who is 23 now, is autistic too. Most of the changes that he had in appetite were related to his medicine. Some meds would turn his appetite off, while others would make him eat non stop. We had the same problems that you are having when he was going through puberty as well. We just made sure that we kept the things in the house that we knew he would eat. Although we were concerned that some of his choices were not very healthy, his physician told us that the situation was very likely temporary and we should focus on getting him to eat what he wanted when he wanted and then slowly trying to introduce new foods to him.

Eventually our son gained his appetite back and has been at a healthy weight ever since.