Eating and Drinking

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Hello my name is Dean. Im very new to forums so please forgive me if rambling at all... Im dating a woman with a 6 year old non-verbal autistic son. We've been together close to 2 years. We dont live together. She/we struggle very much to get him to eat and drink healthy at all... right now he primarily eats french fries and only drinks peach iced tea... I could be wrong but I feel he might progress better if he would take in some proper nutrients and I worry about kidney stones with him only drinking tea. He has some interest in other food but does not take the bite or will spit it out. I am not his primarily care giver but im trying to help her and him especially anyway i can... some advice from others who have gone through it would be helpful. I've had some of my own ideas but i would love some input from experienced individuals that i could bring to her and him. Thank you all for your time and i will answer any questions best i can...

Bribery might work to get him to take one multivitamin with minerals a week. Dairy might work as ice cream.

If you can advance to vegetables with butter or cheese, you might be able to get more balance in his diet. Even toast with butter and sugar on it would be better than only french fries as bread in the US is supplemented with vitamins.

Your are right to be concerned about his nutrition. However, you also have to recognize the limits you face. Take satisfaction is small accomplishments.

Define bribery a lil please? Lol. And im most concerned about the peach tea... the bread thing definitely good to know...

I've never heard of tea causing kidney stones; cultures around the world drink tea, and have been drinking tea for millennia. I always thought it was a safe way to get plenty of water. I could be wrong, though; I haven't researched it.

I can offer my own anecdotal experience, for what it's worth. Several of my children (all ASD) almost exclusively drink black tea all day, no sugar added, and I've never had a problem with anyone getting kidney stones. My kids are all under 20 years old. (So it's possible it just takes longer for the stones to develop, maybe?)

Like timf, I think bribery can be a useful tool. It took awhile, but I was able to successfully expand my non-verbal son's diet by saying, "You can have [favorite food] if you have a bite of [different food] first. Just one bite." He refused the deal the first 20 times. But after he finally tried it, I kept it up for a month (or two, or three, or *twelve*), then the negotiation involved three bites, and then eventually, an entire serving. After a few years, he does things now like voluntarily devour half a rotisserie chicken. (He's an older teen, currently.)

Maybe the bribery worked, or maybe it was just a leap in development or simply a change in tastes. No one ever really knows.

Well that was very helpful to know! I agree with what your saying for tea... But the tea he is drinking is turkey-hill tea (a local convenient store chain). Its known in our area for causing kidney stones. Might as well be mountain dew as far as that kinda stuff goes.

Find out what his favourite vegetables are and cook them for him. Add cheese or butter to the vegetable.

Okay, this is a long shot, but since it works for a few of my kids, I want to pass it on, in case it might work for you (or anyone else out there).

Cinnamon is a very popular spice in my house. The kids go bonkers for it. It sounds really weird, but I have kids who BEG me for cinnamon flavored fermented cod liver oil. I have to limit it to one teaspoon a day per kid. Crazy, right???