Child steals and hides food compulsively. Aspie trait?

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I wanted to post our experience. My son is 11 and he displayed this type of behavior from the start! He ate until he vomited. All the time. He hid food everywhere. Even food that should be refrigerated. My pediatrician suggested that I appeal to his logic and explain healthy eating and that he may eat as many veggies as he wants. so I locked up everything and he was allowed to have carrots and celery or broccoli as much as he wants. And he ate it until he vomited as well. But my pediatrician said don't worry about. And eventually while my son continued to eat he did not get to the point of throwing up. But it was very clear that it was an impulsive stimming behavior.
He takes a med called iintuniv that helps so much with impulsive behaviors so I can see an improvement but he still is prone to eating as entertainment or stimming. Now that he is getting older keeping him physically busy helps too.

good luck

Sounds like you have a pretty typical AS kiddo.

I hope this puts your mind at ease: Most of us at some point decide, because of a point of our own logic, to start towing the line when it comes to stuff like personal hygiene. For me, I wouldn't do my homework. Then one day, they killed of my favorite TV character. She had been abandoned by her parents on a impoverished planet and earned her way into her professional life by being super conscientious at school. I decided to honor her life by doing my homework and three years later, I was moved from special education classes to the honors track. I can't explain it and I can't tell you that my parents did anything right. The light just turned on at some point.

A factor that you might not have considered yet; she may be hiding the food because of executive functioning issues. I know it seems a simple thing, to put a dish back in the kitchen. But to a person with weaknesses in executive functioning, after a long day, and all "high" on sugar, it might seem really hard to put that candy wrapper in the trash. This is part ASD and part normal, lazy childhood. Its just easier to hide it under the couch than to go all the way to the kitchen and potentially have to have a conversation with a parental unit about the whole thing. Even your saying "Good job. Thanks for putting that plate in the dishwasher instead of the sink!" might feel like too much to deal with. If this is so, all your attempts to change the behavior with rewards and punishments are just going to cause more stress and shut her down more.

One more thought: review the use of vyvance. That's a stimlant medication, as you know. ASD on stimulants is often a hard combination because it can increase our sensory problems. Also, they are known to agitate anxiety, and we all suffer from anxiety. They won't tell you this in the doctor's office. Its just so.

My experience is this: There's a buzzy feeling on stimulant meds. It feels really good at first and then after a few weeks or months the good feeling goes away and all you have is the buzz. The buzz can make you feel like you're ready to crawl out of your skin. And yes, the stimulant meds might be behind her not eating enough at meals. I know they say that vyvance is completely even in its stimulant properties. I'm telling you this isn't always so. And an aspie might not be able to describe how its making her feel.

My son was diagnosed four years ago. We have had this same problem of him taking food from the fridge or pantry. We have tried the different punishments that haven't worked. We have talked to the doctor about it and have come up empty handed after the doctor said that it was a normal stage for any nine year old child. I don't think she really understood what I was saying though. My son won't just get a spoonful of peanut butter or a single granola bar. I tend to keep lots of fruit in the house and I have found up to 5 apple cores in his bed or in his closet in the morning. bottles upon bottles of water along with orange peels, and banana peels. He has taken sweets on many occasions such as this week he ate a full 2lb tube of bavarian cream that I had planned on using for a pie to bake for the family. He has never gotten in to the sugar its self but many other things. and its never just a single thing its like binge eating. He eats massive amounts of food during the night and is sick the next day from gorging himself. I have learned that if I plan on making sweets I have to buy the ingredients the day of. It's not just sugar by any means nor is it his medication considering that his medication has changed and we have even paused his medication to see if that would work and it doesn't. He will eat his whole meal at dinner time and will still gorge himself during the night. Any suggestions are very welcome.

A lot of people with ASD also suffer from anxiety, which can be particularly intense at night. This is a possible cause of your son's nightly binges.

I still do that. I steal food like granola bars and fruit snacks and place them where no one would ever think of them hiding there. I actually hate that I do that.

My daughter was diagnosed at 8 with Asperger's and is now 21, she has been "liberating" food forever and lies when confronted she has been unmedicated for the last three years and her weight has ballooned two fold. Since graduating from high school she has become a hermit, doesn't wish to join the rest of the family except to eat meals, she stays in pajamas most of the time because she won't admit her clothes don't fit. I am at a loss as how to deal with this other than locking everything up