Food as an AS obsession

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Hey all. I'm new to the WrongPlanet and am looking for some advice. We have an almost nine year old son who was diagnosed with AS almost five years ago. Life can be different with him than with our two "typical" children, but for the most part he is a loving child who does well in school and has a small, but steady social network at his school.

When he was young his AS obsession was very clearly trains and in particular Thomas the Train. For a year or so it was hard to pinpoint his "subject" though math problems (addition and subtraction) became a favorite pastime and then last fall we had a short but intense season with the Titanic and all the accompanying information. Now however his obsession seems to have become food. At every meal he is already discussing the next meal, he goes to bed thinking about breakfast and has even taken the grocery store flyers to his room to read for fun! He is not fat, but could certainly go that way if we are not careful. We've tried to teach him that he needs to finish a meal and then wait thirty minutes to see if he's still hungry before eating any more. This usually works, and I do think because of his sensory issues he honestly has a hard time telling when his body is full. But his obsession with food goes beyond the normal range and into what I would term an AS subject.

Has anyone else dealt with this? How can best help him learn to deal with this? Thomas the Train was easy, we just let him build wooden tracks by the hour and watch every Thomas DVD ever made till I had them memorized. Math problems are easy to conjure up when you're sitting in traffic, and while I got tired of hearing about the Titanic, I did actually learn a thing or two. The food thing just seems more dangerous as it can effect his health and, as he is not overly active, it could get out of control quickly.

Any thoughts you can pass along will be greatly appreciated.

Welcome to WP!

I'm no expert on food (or even feeding myself properly), but it doesn't, at first glance, seem like the worst compulsion you could have.

But, if you are concerned (after all, you're probably his closest person actually witnessing this), maybe you could try to gently trigger his interests in another field? Maybe buy him a book with 3D images, or a cassette recorder? (If they still exist that is... I had tons of fun with these, making up fairytales for my sisters or listening to my voice in reverse, etc.)

Welcome to WP.

Why don't you teach him to cook? It would fit in with a food obsession rather well, and if you got very far with it, could be actually useful later in life. I'm 30, and I've been trying to find time recently to teach myself to cook. I wish I'd learned as a kid. I don't know whether you'd be comfortable with him alone with a stove, but you could start off with a microwave and work your way up.

Hmm... Food can actually be a very healthy obsession to have, particularly with a little bit of direction. If he can focus that interest onto nutrition he might become an expert in not just eating, but eating healthy. You might also want to show him some cookbooks or get him involved with your meal preparation so as to possibly get him interested in cooking. If he sticks with that, it could end up being a very viable career option.

((Edit: Looks like somebody beat me to the punch with the cooking suggestion. Yeah, what he said.))

I have thought about having him help me in the kitchen, it's just so much work sometimes.....But my own desire to do things quickly should take a back seat to helping him. You are all right that this could be a good thing if he is willing to learn to eat healthy and who knows, maybe someday he'll even make dinner for me!

Thanks for your suggestions.

It's nice to meet you, blessedandbroken, and welcome to the Wrong Planet neighborhood. You may also wish to refer to the Parents Forum: http://www.wrongplanet.net/forum19.html

Thanks for the welcome and the advice. I'll check out the parent's forum.

You could try to steer his interest into nutrition, which is related to food but might help him make healthy choices. I poked around on Amazon and found this book: _Encyclopedia of Foods: A Guide to Healthy Nutrition_ that has lots of glossy illustrations of food along with all the nutrition information about it. Maybe see if you can order it through your library and offer it to him? It might become his new favorite, instead of the grocery store flyers.

I have a hard time telling when I am full (especially when I am depressed.) I sometimes have a hard time telling when I am hungry also.

That's interesting Maditude, because that is definitely something we have noticed about our son. We have no idea how that would be related to AS, but it seems as if it has always been the case with him. As he is still young it's easy for me to control his portion sizes at this point, and we've tried to teach him to wait 20 - 30 minutes after a meal because it takes that long for him to feel full. We're hoping to be be able to teach him to self regulate in the future but I know as a growing boy (almost 9 and getting bigger every day) it will be hard for us to judge how much food he needs for growing in the right ways.

Hi blessedandbroken welcome, there is not I do not know about fussy eaters my 2 boys and husband all have there oddities and have even more extreme cousins...

My teenagers has been diagnosed, I have aspergers and my younger son not labeled as such but sounds pretty similar to your son, seems normal to me

As for fussy eaters where do I start or end!! !
Most of us do not like some food and can go through a fussy eating stage. But it’s not the same for everyone, children with Aspergers and Autism can often have extreme food selectivity, because of sensory problems in regard to touch, smell, hearing, taste and sight. Often this problem is well beyond the scope of what parents would call fussy eating.

The child may only eat a very limited range of foods and/or eat very small quantities of food. These children can be quite selectivity wanting to eat from the same plate or eat food of the same/certain colors. There are positive strategies that can often help with extreme food selectivity, being aware of sensory issues such as textures, smell, color, cold and heat will help. If you do have a problem with your child, it’s not necessary you, please do not feel bad by seeking professional help, your general practitioner can help.

I know only too well with so much pressure on parents and children to eat the right foods. Before criticizing anyone else, take a step back as there really are valid reasons why some children are unable to follow the norm. I get so fed up with other people thinking they always know better, please do not judge without really knowing, there are many reasons autism being just one of them.

I went away a while ago, and as one of my children is quite selective, the couple we went and stayed with took it on themselves to continually put me down as a parent and really was not interested in any reason, excuses. Unfortunately did not help my husband agreeing with them. I cook fresh food every day, and have always gone out of my way to encourage my children to eat the right things. It can be so disheartening when your child continually refuses food, let alone being put down by everyone else.

Both my boys are fussy eaters in different ways, I no longer worry what others think as long as they are healthy. My sisters boys were both worse, the older one got to a point when would only eat one thing at a time, mind you he is a real genius, was always under weight and my sister was continually criticized but it was none thing she done it was just the way the child was... all grown up now and eats most things...

I see situations all the time where everyone is telling the parents and child they are wrong, just make them eat it, give them no choice, but I know only too well this does not work. What does it matter as long as they are happy and healthy, because if we stress it only makes the situation worse.

If becomes a real problem get professional support, myself, I tend to prefer not to worry and let then have their fazes and stages as all children do... ASD children of course much more extreme at times, but as long as they are healthy try not to worry whatever anyone else says, after all everyone eats far more than they need...

For more on children:
You cannot discipline away a difference:
http://asplanet.info/index.php?option=c ... Itemid=141
Strategies that should help
http://asplanet.info/index.php?option=c ... Itemid=151