Does your child have difficulty knowing.....

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when he/she is full.

My 13 year old would continue to eat unless I said no. A few years ago, for example, he would eat 10 slices of bread at lunchtime and still be hungry. He has a lovely shape now, and is 5 ft 7, so I know he will have a large appetite. But I feel very guilty when I say no, sometimes I just try to distract him, but as he gets older it becomes more difficult.

I worry that when he lives on his own, he wont be able to control his appetite. Is this common with AS?

I have something similar, but I thought it was just compulsive overeating... Whenever I eat, I judge how hungry I am by how much pain my stomach is feeling... since the pain does not subside immediately after I eat, I will keep eating until it does, even if I have eaten enough...

You may want to have your son examined for compulsive overeating just in case...

Could this be mild Prader Willi syndrome? http://pwsa.co.uk/main.php?catagory=1

thanks for your replies..I did go to the link just now. He doesnt have the physical characteristics of PWS, infact he is tall for his age, and seems to be developing sexually quite normally. But as you say, maybe he has it mildly, some children do not have it genetically but an accident can cause this (he was run over as a toddler).

I am lucky he is obsessed with computers which takes his mind off food. ToadofSteel, this is also interesting, I will maybe ask him if he feels this way.

I know from that article that I don't have PWS... my muscle tone is actually above normal (in other words, if i wasn't a fatass, i'd be buff...)

It is common with me and I am AS. All my long life I never feel 'full'. This has caused a great amount of desparation on my weight as I am forever eating, thinking about eating or going out of my way to be sure I have enough to eat.
I have been to weight watchers so I know what 'normal' portions are, but I will continue to eat normal portions until I am over full and uncomfortable just to feel 'full.' I have tried to eat normal portions (one helping) over the period of a half hour or a full hour, but no feeling of 'full' has 'caught up' to me by doing it.

I understand the challenges behind not able to 'feel full' naturally and usually carry 75 to 100 more pounds on my frame for over 30 years, on and off. I have taken it all off before (several heroic times) but it is a real problem in my life. Good Luck on your son, there.

Merle

My son is the exact opposite. Because of his ADHD, I can't seem to keep the weight on him, especially during tennis or soccer season!

I, myself, have a nasty habit of eating to fast. It takes 20 minutes for the body to start to feel full. Maybe if he slowed down and put his fork down between each bite, he might be better able to control his eating. Also, while I can completely understand the desire to play video games, it is important to get outside and run around. Does you son like to play any sports or walk?

Hi there,

I have a brother who is 19 who is an aspie and really loves eating junk food and soft drinks. Sometimes he may go through as much as a large pack of chips or lollies a day along with a 1.5litre/2litre bottle of soft drink. On these days he will usually also eat the usual 3 square meals.

I have try to explain to him that it may not be good for him to eat so much junk food. He acknowledges this (at one stage he actually felt some kind of heart pain that he himself attributed to eating lots of junk food) and says he will stop but after a week or two he will be back to his old habits.

When I ask him why he has gone back to eating so much junk he says that he doesn't think it will hurt him and that he hasn't felt any pain in his heart for a while.

He has recently said that he will try to cut back on junk food and I hope that he sticks to it since I am very concerned for his health.

Any suggestions on how to help him?

My son would eat a whole family pack of chicken nuggets if I let him. He always says he is hungry, and I am the same way.

I also get like this if it is something I really enjoy the taste of... I'll keep going until it is gone sometimes, just to taste it or feel the texture in my mouth. It's odd.

Junk food, including fried foods, can be really addicting. Sometimes it is really hard to stop the craving for these types of foods. My favorite is french fries, but since I know they are not good for me I had to cut them out of my diet completely for over a month to break the craving. It worked, too. I might have them everyone once in a while, but for the most part, I will stick with fruit or a salad instead of the fries. It took a lot of will power though. You have to put yourself in the mind set that you want to do what is best for your body and that you're not going to eat "_________" even though that is what you want so badly.

Good luck!

My son is the same and at 5 is a hefty lad. Starchy comfort food being the most popular.I will not give in, but others do not understand.

eating three bowls of popcorn in a row even though I am not hungry and feel like upchucking it and clicking on websites for hours even though I am bored and uninterested is me stimming

at least I am done with the other things I was eating nonstop - can't wait til I work this stuff out of my system - he may not be hungry but he needs the contact so he needs to do something else that requires all his attention and exhausts him - maybe a physical activity would be better than the computer

Some people may just have a harder time knowing when they're hungry, and when they're full. Maybe this is more so in autistic kids, but focus less on why he does it, and more on how to help him. Also remember, this is a teenage boy, and stereotypically they love to eat, and eat a lot, so this may just be normal. He's tall for his age, probably big in the shoulders too I'm guessing, maybe he needs the nourishment to fuel all this growth.

I think you're treading on dangerous ground when you decide when someone else is done eating. 10 slices of bread is a lot of bread but not a lot of food otherwise. There are several possibilities for eating like that.
1)oral fixation-would he chew gum or drink ice water?
2)skips other meals or is so picky that plain bread is his biggest meal?
3)is there an addictive ingredient in the bread? (sugar, salt, honey, oil)
4) does he have a sleeping disorder that makes him feel hungry? Sometimes if I am sleep-deprived, I get a buzz and empty feeling in my gut.

My son fits the first 3 conditions often and will eat an entire box/pkg/bag of whatever if he's allowed to. I often have to strongly suggest something else to help him feel full, like cheese, milk and water. Pancakes are really good too. Growing boys will eat you out of house and home and that's just the way it is. Try to offer something filling. If they eat plenty of filling, then offer soups and water.