Autistic Food Habits: Why Autism Complicates Eating
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- čas přidán 2. 05. 2024
- Does autism make eating more complicated for autistic people? Why do many autistics have very specific food preferences? I'm here to tell you all about the atypical eating habits of many autistics, based on lots of research and my own experiences as a late-diagnosed autistic ADHDer. Spoiler: Even though autism looks a bit different for every autistic, and not all autistics will experience food like this, atypical eating habits are statistically shown to be very common among autistics, and today I'll tell you a little more about why.
Do you have atypical eating habits? Be sure to share your experiences and questions in the comments! ⤵️
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📖 RESEARCH:
- Atypical eating behaviors in children and adolescents with autism, ADHD, other disorders, and typical development : www.fabresearch.org/viewItem....
- Gastrointestinal Problems in Children with Autism, Developmental Delays or Typical Development : digitalcommons.unl.edu/nutrit...
- Eating as an Autistic Adult: journals.plos.org/plosone/art...
- Autism and anorexia: www.medicalnewstoday.com/arti...
- Autism diagnosis in females by eating disorder professionals: jeatdisord.biomedcentral.com/...
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One thing I’d add to your list: being observed while eating is very uncomfortable. Being observed in general is uncomfortable, but add in me navigating eating in addition to everything you mentioned: it’s a lot.
Agreed. Performance anxiety to the max
YES!!! This very statement FOR SURE!
Agreed - espcially with dyspraxia! There is a 100% chance I drop what I'm eating. Best case it lands on the plate or table - but more often than not, it ends up on my shirt or dress.
“Being Perceived” seems far more suitable in this context
@@DrakeDHDerr that might have been the word I meant to use. No way to know for sure, though.
I never imagined that when I became a mother the biggest fight that I would have about my parenting is with other adults telling me that I am spoiling my children by letting them decide what they want to eat and when they want to eat it and that I do not force them to "eat what is in front of you." I have a brother that is a year younger than me, is on the spectrum, and has a lot of issues when it comes to food. My mom once snuck a mushroom into his spaghetti when he was 5 and he utterly refused to eat anything that she would cook for years because he couldn't trust her anymore. Growing up with him taught me a lot about the kind of parent I wanted to be even before I had my kids. My eldest is a pretty good eater most of the time. My youngest, however, struggles a lot with food issues. She struggles a lot with nausea and vomiting on and off since birth. She has a very specific list of safe foods and we allow her to plan out her own meals. We have worked with her doctors and nutritionists to come up with a balanced diet and I involve her in the shopping and the cooking as much as I can so that she knows exactly what it is that we are having and if she chooses not to eat with the rest of us then she has a list of items that she can pick through instead. I do not mind making one meal for everyone else and something different for her if that is what she needs to be able to actually keep eating and staying healthy. Now that she is moving into her teen years, she is more willing to experiment and try new things which is great and we are very happy with that.
It's the other adults I have a problem with. As a general rule, if we are going to family gatherings I do not make my kids sit down to eat if they are not feeling hungry. This apparently makes a lot of other adults in our lives very upset. I've been told that I am too lenient and that I am spoiling my children by giving them what they want instead of forcing them to comply. I've been told that I need to be forcing them to at least try a bite of everything and I refuse. There are family members that I have that we have cut out of our lives because someone tried to literally shove food into my youngest's mouth, only to have her vomit all over them and then they tried to put her in time out for the "insult". I wish I was exaggerating but I am not. As a society we can all collectively acknowledge that overeating is incredibly bad for your health, yet we sit there and force our children to finish everything on their plate before they are allowed to leave the table? Its so hypocritical. I have had far better luck with teaching my kids healthy eating habits by making them responsible for one family dinner a week. We plan out what they would like to make, then we go to the store together and get the ingredients, come home and allow them to cook the meal. As long as they are making healthy choices, then what is wrong with indulging their safe food lists when they are overstimulated and don't want to try what dad and I are eating for one reason or another? Every single autistic person I have ever known has had some sort of issues with their food, and they are also the only other adults that I know who thank me for breaking the generational trauma of forced eating with my children. Thank you for making this video. I wish more people understood that listening to your body is the healthy thing to do, not force feed it and be miserable from the very real chronic stomach pain.
What a blessing you are to your children! Stand up to those awful adults. 👍
Childhood power struggles with my controlling mother - who insisted that I eat sawdust (lima beans), slimy stringy vile tasting ick (canned asparagus), and chewy vinegar (sauerkraut), were horrible. 🤮
My needs not respected/ listened to, while forced to "comply" with unreasonable demands/ authority - I've still got issues with that, over 60 years later.
My Daughter isn’t autistic but I also let her choose what she wants to eat.
I would look into getting your youngest food allergy testing. Nausea/vomiting is common side effect of a lot of things.
You're so in tune with your daughters eating issues! I am on the spectrum also and am 52yrs.
I wasn't diagnosed until into my 40s (homeschooling). I was forced to eat food growing up and clean my plate, because I was complaining about the texture or taste and it would make me 🤮.
Then I would be punished for throwing up and making a scene...I love you for your love and concerns for your daughters preferences...I never treated my daughters like I was treated as a child and I was told all the things you mentioned. 😢it really hurt to hear that you're doing everything wrong with your child especially family members. Now one has been diagnosed with ADHD and autism like me.
Let me bring up the term "exposure therapy".
Even adults & kids on the autism spectrum need to be pushed out of their comfort zone. Without this turning into habit, the whole world will be an anxiety-inducing never-ending environment for them.
I personally agree with the people telling you that they should be getting forced to try everything at the table. But only for one good effortful-looking bite (dont force them to finish a plate)....even if the kid already judged they won't like it....and probably will biasely decide they indeed didn't like it. But do it in a way that maintains the trusting relationship between you and them; like with a long objective conversation....or rewards.
You can't let them get used to never considering other actions.
This is all my opinion but, I feel like we are constantly trying to predict the future. Every time we get it right, we get dopamine, if we’re wrong, we get cortisol. Safe foods are foods that we can predict correctly, they are consistent. We know exactly how much reward our brain is in for. If I’m already overwhelmed, stretching myself to the limit, a food that I can affectively predict all aspects of and that releases a specific neurotransmitter load is invaluable for managing stress. We are trying to give ourselves exactly what we need to function when we eat our preferred foods.
Mic drop..
This succinctly gifted a huge aha for me .thankyou.
agreed. I would extend this to the process of getting food too. If I'm cooking, it's the same type of foods, same workflow. If I'm getting it delivered, it's the same foods from the same few places. In either case, less (over)thinking is involved, fewer points of failure/surprise, less analysis/decision paralysis.
i also feel this in the act of making the food or ordering the food itself, sometimes it’s just “better” for us not to eat than go through the whole process
@@Me-vn3gz I eat crackers and cheese every day for lunch so I don't have to decide what to eat.
@@Me-vn3gz THIS.
Before trying a new restaurant socially, I have to first go online and thoroughly review their menu to see if they have anything I can eat plus pre-plan what I’ll order before the event.
YES
Yes. Exactly, what I've done too. My inner circle knows that I will go out to eat if they tell me where. Look up the menu. If the place does not have any good food choice for me. I still attend. And we have drinks. If it's someone I don't know. I opt not to go out. Plus, knowing where you are going to prior to the date. It gives you a chance to visit the place, ask questions, walk around and know where ER exits are, restrooms, etc.
Ooooh yeah, I review the menu online beforehand, because reading the menu in the restaurant is super stressful to me. If I am reading it at the place, I NEED to read EVERY item on the menu, before I decide what to order. Others decide what to eat a lot quicker, because they somehow magically browse and just... decide!
Yup, this is me as well
I'll also look at the pictures to figure out lighting and temperature and try to guess the type of background music
I can't believe you included all those slurping noises when talking about misophonia. It's like you're trying to torture us
Just a little bit 😉
You have to admit though, that it got the point across perfectly.
And I say this while still shuddering from the mental echo of the slurping noises. 😅
@@sashasaetteleThe mental echo is such a good way to describe it 😂
Right; I heard that sweet n sour pork chomping and almost clicked off!
@@fulicious2991I've got auditory-tactile synaesthesia on top of misophonia. You can imagine. 😵
I have learned more about autism from your channel in the last 2 days than in my investigations into it on my own for the last few months. As somebody with a recent diagnosis late in my forties, my whole life suddenly makes sense and I feel incredibly validated by hearing about your experiences, and how similar they are to my own!
🤗 "Late Forties, Late Diagnosed, and now my whole life makes sense" 🥹🥲 This is also my story.
At some point, I gave in to CZcams's persistent suggestions that I may want to watch videos about the "You Might Be Autistic If..." topic. I have been "slurping" up information as if I hadn't seen food in a month. 😂 And, Wow... Two years later, and my mental-emotional health is far more intact than ever before (and the meds certainly help with that, too)! Not only have I discovered a community of others who are "my kind of normal," I'm even starting to understand the "typical kind of normal" people I have to interact with regularly.
❤️🩹
Greetings, fellow late diagnosed autists! So much about my life made sense when I got the dx. It also explained my dad and his entire family.
Same 😁 May i ask about your meds? Which have helped what? @@rebeccamay6420
Welcome to the club. I'm in my 40s and waiting for an assesment/diagnosis. Let's say the last year exploring autism has been 'a bit' of an eye opener.
I was 49. Food and stomach issues have plagued me my whole life. I feel the same way about this video as you.
I was always criticized for being picky as far back as I can remember, and even though my family technically knows I'm autistic in my mid 20s, they still make a big deal out of it sometimes. I have a serious aversion to a lot of foods/flavors/smells, and I hate having to justify and explain myself for everything. Anyway thank you for this video, I hope it can spread more awareness to autistic and allistic people alike, and add more understanding to the mix.
Sounds like me with sounds. I'm a picky hearer. Thank you, misophonia and auditory-tactile synaesthesia.
I am 50 and I am like you as I have had issues to a lot of food aversion and had very few friends because I don't want people to know I have this issue and be called a picky eater. One thing i am thankful though is my parents and some relatives don't pressure me to eat food I am not interested in. It does suck having this issue though as dating becomes a nightmare when most women on the dating sites love eating all types of food and wants to try new restaurants.
Then when you do explain it, they tell you "Stop making up excuses, do it anyways." Smh.
I completely understand this feeling. When I was a kid. I was very skinny and small. That is until my second home, my legal guardians asked me what foods I enjoyed and which I hated. I didn't know until they set up a whole buffet of sorts. My cousins, uncle and aunt. We all tasted the foods. We all were allowed to spit it out if we did not like it. Thus, beginning their quest and mine into learning what I loved to eat. Most adults and neighbors thought that we were being over pampered. But that wasn't the case. Everyone in the household had their routine, comfort snack. If we misbehaved, we were punished but they (our guardians) never touched us or screamed at us. Which was comforting. But when our whole room was cleared out of our fav toys, posters, etc it meant it'll be a whole four weeks until we got our things back or prior if we apologized and knew why we were apologizing.
Now that we are older, we are grateful to have had them as our parents and mentors. My fascination for vegan foods has grown and I get to enjoy everything I cook. My sister and cousins, not vegan also enjoy my cooking.
Something that I learned (and that my little sis is yet to learn) is that if there is family dinner, but you don’t like it (and won’t eat it at all because autism), don’t expect something to be made immediately (or for it to be dinner food). My mum has said that sometimes a meal is just about eating *something*
I had some issues remembering to eat or really do anything when I was immersed. I trained a dog (Temple Grandin and I are soul sisters!) to remind me to do self-checks about once an hour. Now Wilson has internalized my whole day. He knows when I need to eat, drink, take meds, go pee, and what's bedtime.
He is now a certified medical service dog.
Before Wilson, I used to use alarms on my phone, but so often I'd ignore or snooze or just turn them off with good intentions.
Wilson knows when he needs his peanut. He literally works for peanuts, lol. And he talks like a Siamese cat -- much harder to ignore and impossible to turn off.
Was it difficult to train Wilson to be a service dog in this way? I also often ignore alarms on my phone, and don't even know how I do it. Most of the time I turn it off thinking, "In just a sec, I will get up and do that thing." and it never happens... I would've never thought to train a dog to help with this. I also have no idea how you would do it either.
@@WolfieZaps It happened in a very individual way. Wilson was a rescue -- the poor thing was kept in a crate from weaning to about 18 months.
But he was that rare dog who was food motivated and not a food stealer, but a toy dog (Italian grayhound) who are bred up to beg and be very loving. His training seemed to emerge as his trauma released -- I was the first to take care of him, and he seemed to want to do anything to care for me.
So I taught him that when he heard the alarm sound on my phone, he was allowed to pester me for pets and a peanut. Soon, he had internalized the schedule, and very close to hourly, he'd pester me until I gave him attention and a peanut.
Soon he learned that I would give him the peanut after drinking water. He learned on his own when meals and meds were. He knows before I do when I have to go to the bathroom (good boy, more pets!), and he fusses if I stay up too late, to go snuggle (easier maintenance that most BF/husbands I've had, lol).
But a lot of this was his attitude of gratitude, and smarts, and a nearly OCD devotion to routine he shares with a lot of dogs.
We were lucky; I rescued him and he rescued me. ;)
The group that certified him wrote an internal article on his training, because they'd never seen similar.
If another dog were able to be trained like this, it would have to be a dog with his talents, and I'm sure if I hadn't started training dogs a half century ago, I might have missed the cues.
It wasn't hard exactly, but it took a lot of patience and consistency and perception on both our parts.
@@shavanerad9038 That sounds amazing. Wilson is the absolutely bestest boi.
🤗 Reading about Wilson's transformation from traumatized pup to grateful, loving snuggler reminds me of my cats -- we adopted a pair of siblings from a foster-feral mom-with-litter. They were at first very timid and spent most of their time hiding from us. Four or so years later, and both of them offer their bellies for rubs, sis gives my leg gentle love-pats for attention, and bro gives headbutts and lays down on my chest to tuck me in for bedtime. He often chirps at me when I'm late for bedtime snuggles. I call him my Snuggle Puss. 🥰
Great🎉🎉🎉
And this is why menus are so overwhelming! I panic if I can’t see a familiar food I know I’ll enjoy 🙁
Look up the menu beforehand, that's what I do so I already know what I'm going to order
I have eaten the same casseroles for dinner for week over 6 months! I am disabled and can't cook for myself anymore. I have a caregiver and I taught her how to make it for me. She makes a big pot of my casserole (ground beef /onions, tomato sauce, canned corn, macaroni noodles and sliced black olives) once a week and it's my dinner every single day. The casserole tastes amazing every time, like it's a new experience each day! Think I'm an autist? Yep!
The best part of being an adult is no one can force me to eat foods I hate anymore. I try to push myself because of course veggies aren't my favourite... but I haven't had peppers or pickles since I was a kid.
I haven't eaten a hot dog in 38 years
@@jenniferbutler1545 omg hot dogs... I hate them so much I forget they even exist, now that I'm an adult.
When I got my autism diagnosis- called Asperger’s back then no one told me my lifelong IBS may have a connection. I also have food triggered migraines. Joy, joy.
I've had some bowel issues since i was a kid. Never really looked into it. My current Nurse Practitioner isn't concerned bc none of it is new or different than I'm used to. Sometimes i have a headache bc i have to go number 2. NP hadn't heard of that before. I've never heard anyone else say that. But i haven't really asked around bc #2 talk makes me really uncomfortable & I'm surprised I'm leaving this comment lol.
Indeed or allergies😊
me too... sometimes I have migraines after eating
Go carnivore. It fixes IBS. The crap “they” label as food can cause MANY physical AND neurological issues. Oxalates, especially.
So many of us have bowel issues like IBS. Swedish researchers discovered that autistics have different bowel micro biomes than neurotypicals. There's a company that sells a special blend of probiotics for autistics. I just don't think it cures autism but if your guts are happier maybe it takes a worry away from you.
Interestingly my interoception is 'off' in the other direction. I have felt almost constantly hungry my whole life and I feel thirst very keenly. I can have a meltdown very quickly if I feel thirsty and don't have anything to drink with me. As a child I suffered from constant tummy aches and got really angry (meltdown) when i was thirsty. I was tested for diabetes and a lot of other things several times, my diet was changed almost weekly which was 'fun' but nobody ever found anything because I was a girl that had the misfortune to grow up in the 80s. Now I'm over forty and learning so many things about myself are not weird or wrong I am just f*ing autistic.
I would not discount the possibility there is still something wrong with your stomach. I have dysautonomia which causes my stomach to always throw the wrong signals and also causes my GI to not properly process water, meaning i feel hungry when I’m not and am always thirsty.
"nobody ever found anything because I was a girl that had the misfortune to grow up in the 80s" - THIS.
Not in relation to your exact issues with hunger/thirst - I have some of the other "usual" ones - but yeah. With my interoception things and other autistic traits, the gaslighting/behavioural modification/shaming/intolerance I experienced due to being an undiagnosed autistic girl child in the 80s... just... messed me up SO BAD.
Literally same. Tested for diabetes throughout my childhood, because drinking a lot, being very thirsty, needing a drink immediately.... Crazy to see someone else experienced the same
The judgement vibe others send your way as the parent of a neurodiverse kid is sooooo stressful. When my son was little, my in-laws let us know (in a quiet way 😮) that they would never have allowed that type of behavior.
Mind you, they are lovely people but were born during the depression…also this was 10-15 years ago and there’s so much more info available today. If only I knew then what I know now. Sigh. But I digress…
We developed a saying to get us thru these moments:
There are two ways to do things… Sam and Evelyn’s way and the wrong way.
You’re doing the right thing by being aware of what your child needs to thrive. Take care and try to remember to breathe…❤
Almost all of these are things I've noticed about myself and one of the first "hmm, am I autistic?" As a child I got in a lot of trouble for calling out noisy eaters, not just mouth noises but clinking of silverware is agony. I've eaten the same meal almost daily for a little over 3 years. I struggle with foods that are too sweet or salty. Too sweet make can make my teeth ache, salty can make me downright sick. Texture is also incredibly important, even if I love the taste I will refuse to eat something that doesn't have a good texture. I really like the taste of oranges. But the clear membranes around the slices need to be peeled off.
I also can't have too sweet because it hurts my teeth. Same thing with sour foods. I love salt though. Probably too much. I'm sure it will kill me one day. Also, I would've never thought to peal the membranes off to maybe be able to eat oranges. I MUST try this.
I can identify with this, for the past eight years I have basically eaten either cauliflower cheese,porridge or cream crackers and peanut butter every day. The sound of silverware is hell and I have to use earphones to eat usually and always be alone. My kids are all autistic as well and they all have strange eating habits.
Oh the membranes around orange sections! 🤢 way to ruin something delicious. 😭
Just FYI, if you haven't tried this... peel the orange before you want to eat it. Leave it out on a plate so the skin on the individual pieces dry out. Once dry, they are so easy to peel off, and the inside is still moist.
I hate those orange membranes too it makes me crazy!
I love extremely sweet foods though, I literally eat plain condensed milk from cans and cotton candy and sometimes just spoonfuls of maple syrup. But people differ so much, that neither of us is wrong and that’s what so special
I've always been a fussy eater - my main issue is with the texture of food, and it's always been really difficult to make people understand it. I have a huge problem with fat and gristle - if my tongue touches a slimy bit of food, I start dry-heaving and I just can't swallow it. Consistent textures are key for me, which is why I find it hard to trust fruit, since it can often feel softer than it's supposed to - luckily I've been making fruit smoothies for the last couple of years, and that's allowed me to get fruit into my diet much more regularly.
My sister, who I also suspect to be autistic, has always hated hearing people eating and the noise of cutlery against plates - I'm no fan of metal squeaking against porcelain, but she seems to hear noises I don't hear. It was years before we realised misophonia was a thing, and now I realise it's probably autism (not simply because of that, obvs).
My other thing is I hate trying something new unless I have something I like on hand in case I need to mask the taste. I always thought that was a fairly rational thing, but I now realise it's probably an autistic thing and that's why nobody else seems to follow my logic.
I also have a set weekly menu, so I know what I'll be having for my lunch 10 years from today - the same thing I had 10 years ago today.
I eat pbj for breakfast most days. For about 2 years. Then oatmeal for 2. And I've been back on pbj for a year or 2.
I'll eat something different once a week, sometimes twice. For me, i think it's more about routine than sensory stuff. I'm disappointed with the wrong bread or untoasted though. Idk if it's autism or not but my bestie thinks so. I had some meltdowns over food touching as a kid. I like almost all food now.
I tend to eat the sameish stuff a lot for other meals and order the same thing if i go out. Going out, i don't want to experiment bc I'm poor (but also i know what i like). At home, I'm limited by prepared vegetarian and vegan options at the store, as cooking is often too much for me. I think that's depression & executive dysfunction, which i guess may be an autistic thing.
Seeking diagnosis but in-between therapy offices rn bc of corporate greed/insurance issues.
@@reed6514if I like a food that I eat out or order in, I get it the same day of the week all the time so the same person is making it. I can tell the difference in the taste.
I have those same eating issues, yet absolutely cannot have a routine, a la adhd
It's torture every day 😅
With the fat/gristle thing omg same!!! I’m glad I finally met someone with a similar sensory issue
Yes, I like to have something like soda on hand if I am trying something that might taste gross. Then if I don't like it I can wash away the taste.
I'm similar: I prefer all my food to be at room-temp... don't like super-cold or super-hot foods or beverages. I cook in bulk and eat the same thing for 3-4 days. It's not only efficient, but I find comfort in knowing what to expect in advance.
Same
Yes! Me, too. Husband only eats leftovers once, but I can do several rounds.
I prefer hot food to be warm-ish but I hate ice in my water!
I want my food warm, but not hot. Beverages must be room temperature, except Root Beer, which MUST be ice cold! I used to think I was just very weird. It's nice to know it's the 'tism!
I live alone and I cook in bulk for a number of different reasons... but one of the reasons is exactly that... the ability to know what the eating experience will be for a few days, especially if I'm struggling.
I don't tend to cook from a recipe, so sometimes the bulk batch doesn't turn out as good as I want it to but I just label the containers to include the offending characteristic when I put them in the freezer so that I can avoid bringing it out to eat if I'm having a bad day and can't contend with "not perfect meal x"
(because another reason I cook large batches is to ensure I can eat well even if I don't have the time to cook or don't have energy to cook... but not having energy to cook doesn't always mean I need a *perfectly* safe meal, I have bad days where I know it'll be ok if it's just somewhat substandard meal x)
I'm 38 and recently diagnosed. I read the whole menu twice before ordering at a restaurant and I get really peeved if someone messes with my plate in any way. I hate doing dishes more than I know how to describe. Also a huge nacho fan. If you want to play fast and loose with your life then try finishing off my chips without replacing them. I also over indulge in pleasant textured foods while forgetting to eat most meals. I saw the value in ritualizing good behaviors (like regular meals) long before my diagnosis. I'm just listing things that people might also be experiencing. I have been so surprised that there is a whole community of late bloomers like me telling similar stories. Thanks for sharing.
I understand because I am 48 and no one ever bothered to find out what was going on with me as a child or young adult. My family knew I was really unusual in several ways, but they were too.
I am not a picky eater when it comes to flavor, but I am really affected by texture. I just tend toward textures that aren’t the norm I think.
I actually look up the menu online of restaurants I’m going to before I even leave if they are online, and decide on a couple options before I go, the one I actually want and an alternate in case one is sold out or gone.
My friends know me well enough that they don’t just whisk me off someplace I don’t know where it’s going to be ahead of time.
Reading the menu twice! I do this too! When I’m out with my also autistic husband and my ADHD mother we have whole menu debates. Sometimes the poor waiter has to ask us several times if we are ready to order 😂 But we always tip nicely, even though it isn’t expected in our country.
Nachos are, indeed, the food of the gods. I wonder if there's cheese in the fridge? That sounds really good.
omg you guys this year vegan cheese finally got good enough for nachos!! Best day of my life when I discovered that.
I forgot about the menu thing. For me it’s just finding something I can eat all off. So stressful especially if I have to ask not to have something (mayo makes me want to throw up and I can’t even say why 😂). And why does everyone want me to tell the server what I want first? The horror. The horror.
I hated eating as a child. If the food didn’t match my food phase (like now I’m eating ony smoked chicken) I had a hard time even trying it. But I started cooking myself as a teenager. At first it was something simple from time to time, until I got my first cookbook. Cooking is one of my strongest special interests and I collect cookbooks and recipes. Having full control over my food was a game changer. I can control tastes, texture, color palette, consistency and those are most important for me. I can arrange my favorite ingredients the way I like. But my comfort food will be forever grilled cheese 😅
Being a seasoned home cook has another advantage, family and friends are happy if I decide to cook for gatherings and parties. I love designing menus and including everyone’s food preferences and allergies, it’s like a cool riddle. So when I am at a party, I eat what I want to eat, can talk about my special interest all the time, and if I need time out I go to check on food.
I just need to be careful about my weight 😂
Shoutout to waitstaff who is always kind to children with food aversions. I tip bigger for this because I was that kid and I appreciate it so much when adults choose kindness instead of screaming and force.
For people with misophonia slurping may be hard to listen to….
WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU DO THAT?!! 😱😭😭
Yeah was annoying 😂
Hehe! Was pretty funny!
I'd say it's for the neurotypical brains watching. Bc the sounds are there, isolated, they can get the impression of annoyance while otherwise they would just pay no attention to it.
When coaching parents of children on the spectrum, I encourage them to go out to the city, find a street musician and take a video with their phone.
In the situation while listening to the musician they'd say "I only hear the music". Later, when watching the video, there is street noise. Hornblowing, wind, people chatting, laughing, aeroplane noises... And somewhere, hidden in all that may be a bit of music.
Most neurotypical people are shocked by that experience.
Yea, wish our pediatrician hadn't said "don't worry about him not eating, he'll eat when he's hungry". Maybe we'd have had an ASD clue so many years sooner. There were subtle signs but we did not have enough experience around other children to recognize any of it. Thank goodness a first grade teacher saw the signs & let us know of the possibility. Decades later still slowly working on expanding to a more nutritious eating routine. Thanks for all of your videos, they are so helpful.
EDIT: my official diagnosis is adhd (combined type) and ASD1. Just as I suspected.
I am in the process of getting my probable asd1 looked at by a doctor. I am 51, was always struggling with being overweight my whole life. I finally got some better habits with food and exercise, lost like 100 lbs.
I honestly think I had a form of ARFID. I had certain safe or favorite foods, and would flatout refuse a large number of other foods. I think I used to stim with certain snacks. The crunchy/salty ones, or sweet. I would often not be able to eat any school lunch items, and get home feeling ravenous. I definitely comforted my frazzled nerves with safe foods. Correcting my struggles surrounding food and weight has been a life-long endeavor.
I am self diagnosed because I can't afford a diagnosis, but I was always called a picky eater. I was ridiculed for not only my foods of choice and restrictions on them, but also just for the way I eat. All veggies are a no go unless they are finely diced and mixed into a pasta or something. Most fruits are also no go textures. As a kid, I described many fruits and veggies as "grainy." Fatty tissues are also a no go, and those I called "slimey." If I try to eat a fruit or veggie with that grainy texture or meat with fat present that isn't ground up into the hamburger, the moment I try to swallow, a gag reflex would trigger and force it back out. No matter how many times I tried to tell the adults in my life what was happening, everyone just called me a picky eater. No one took me seriously.
I also have to eat my foods separately. If I had a plate of food with baked chicken, macaroni and cheese, and mashed potatoes, I would have to eat one thing at a time. I can't mix flavors/textures or flip flop between what I'm eating because it's too overwhelming. Because of this, my food also MUST stay separated even on the plate. I also have to eat from least liked food when I'm the hungriest to most liked food because starting with my favorite foods would often lead to me eating just that and not wanting anything else on my plate after. An interesting example of this is actually cereal. When I eat cereal, I have to spoon some cereal into my mouth and then proceed to swallow all the milk from the bite first and then chew the cereal. I must eat all of the cereal quickly before it begins to get soggy, or I can't eat it. Then I will drink the milk when the cereal is gone.
My safest foods are things with consistent textures/temperatures throughout. Pasta dishes are probably about 80% of my diet which I know is terrible. My favorite pasta dish is spaghetti. It's safe because the texture is consistent throughout, no surprising textures, all the tastes blend together seemlessly, and it can actually calm me down to eat spaghetti when I'm upset or dysregulated. However, I must eat all the noodles first and then the meat.
If my food is meant to be hot, then I need it scolding hot. I would rather blow on it to keep from burning myself rather than for my food to start to get even lukewarm (although I get hungry enough after not eating the whole day to slurp down food that is way too hot like I'm a starving hyena and burn my tongue to the point I can't feel the top layer of tissue anymore). Once it begins to reach the lukewarm stage, any extreme hunger I did feel will just disappear. Vanishing into the ether like it was never there at all. Yes this can even happen after one bite, and at that point, even though I am still starving, I can't bring myself to try to eat it because I will just gag on it and possibly throw up.
Edit: Forgot to mention that I am also unable to eat at restaurants because there are too many mixing smells, too many loud noises, too much chatter mingling, and also usually too bright as well. Everything about it is overstimulating. By the end of the experience, I have to crash in a quiet, cool, and dark room to recenter myself immediately upon returning home for sometimes hours. Small talk at dinner time makes me want to slam my head into the table. Listening to people chewing with their mouth open makes me want to slap them (I never would, that's just how irrationally angry it makes me feel).
If you read this far, thank you so much for taking your time out of your day to read my incredibly long comment. Now, I would love to know: Does this sound like autistic food behavior to you, and do you relate to any of this?
How do you feel about different pastas? I love the mouth feel of rotini and bow tie. I also love angel hair over spaghetti. And i prefer al dente ish usually.
What about those "veggie" pastas that are quite like regular pasta? Or veggie "pasta" where it's literally just a veggie cut into noodle shape?
🍜🍝
Oh and mouth open eating really bothers me too. I usually can tolerate it or tune it out but it's awful. Idk if any of it's autistic stuff or not. I just don't know enough to speak on that.
@@reed6514 I also really like rotini. Bow tie I find awkward to eat. lol. I have difficulties with fine motor skills. Angel hair is my favorite noodle to have for spaghetti. I also prefer my noodles al dente because uncooked no one likes and over cooked is just gross. Mushy is gross.
I actually haven't tried them but I really should. Haven't even thought to give veggie pasta a try. I would prefer the "veggie" over "pasta" I think.
Yes, it does sound like autistic food behavior to me, and I totally relate. So do my children, who are also autistic.
@@WolfieZaps thanks for sharing! 😊 anfel hair is so good 😄🤣
HOLY CRAP! I've had eating issues my entire life! I am never hungry and I can get busy during the day and around midnight, I realize I have eaten nothing. I also have a lot of stomach issues and I absolutely detest the sensation of being full after a meal; I would rather feel dizzy than be full! I'm 53 and was just diagnosed with masked autism. Things sure made sense as I listened to you! Thank you!
I am 61 NOW, diagnosed with Extreme ADHD at 33~~~ While struggling to raise our 5 children, the youngest has Down Syndrome/ADHD/AUTISTIC behaviors, the other four ADD and ADHD... home schooler, with two home businesses~~~ hahahahahaha
We were Extreme....in our life, looking back it's amazing that we had any time to sleep.
Anyway, I SEE now that for sure we all are on the spectrum ~~ I am widowed as of almost 8 years~~~ and very picky about ANY social events that have food~~~
As I listened to this, I remember that while I was in 7th grade~~ I lived on "fudge cycles " for a month😂~~ and can RELATE to this topic completely~~ it explains me, my children, and also grandchildren! Thank you for sharing!
I was late diagnosed autistic in my late forties a few years ago. I have always struggled with issues around food and stomach issues. My mom would make me sit at the table all night long as a child until I emptied my plate. If I didn’t eat, I sat there until bedtime and didn’t get anything. She grew up extremely poor and they ate what was fixed or they didn’t eat. I finally learned to take bites, spit it I to a napkin, and later flush the napkin down the toilet and sneak bread or something later if I was starving. People always comment on how I eat and that it really bothers me for my food to touch. They still think it’s funny to mix their food in front of me even when I ask them not to draw my attention to it please. As a teacher I always wanted to eat alone in my room. Makes sense now. Thanks for your hard work.
I have a few go-to foods.
My safest food is Spaghettios WITH meatballs, direct from the can, unheated. The best part is slowly biting the meatballs in half with my incisors.
Other safe foods include "jar eggs" (crack eggs in a jar, add splash of milk or cream, shake, microwave without lid), cream of wheat, dino nuggets, mac and cheese, basic hamburger or hotdog - cooked well, with only ketchup.
Meal I eat most often - Bird'seye frozen stirfry. They discontinued my favorite one, and... it took me an extremely long time to deal with this.
And my favorite stimmy foods
Popcorn, OMG, that squeak and the crunch.
Steak - rare to med rare, cheaper cut - I WANT it kinda chewy.
I’m sorry but I absolutely hate most of these hahaha
@@HimechinachaeYeah, our preferences can be opposites. A lot of autistic people love pasta. I don't really like pasta but I can usually force myself to eat it.
I'm a mom of 34 year old autistic young man. He's almost non verbal so he can't really tell me what's going on. But he's just like you described. Had GI issues all of his life, only will eat certain foods, and prefers to eat alone.
Honestly I didn't know these behaviors were connected to autism. Thank you for teaching me something important about my son.
oh man, that eating scene needed a trigger warning. Otherwise great video, super well produced and informative. Your stuff just keeps getting better!
Man, food behaviors with ASD can be so nuanced! In my case, I am extremely sensory-seeking when it comes to food. I need complex texture and flavor combinations. I’m not “picky” at all and I will eat or try almost anything (as long as it’s vegan!). Cooking and culinary arts is one of my special interests-I feel like autism helps me excel in this area because my mind is so open to experimentation with food.
I have a good relationship with food at this point in my life, but I did struggle with an eating disorder in the past. I still have many GI issues and food sensitivities. But I’ve come a long way and learned exactly what foods feel good to eat and nourish my body at the same time. And of course, what that looks like differs wildly from person to person.
I love hearing other’s experiences with ASD and food-is anyone else here sensory-seeking?
YES! But I only just self-dx'd 4 months ago, and I hadn't put words together that described this yet so thank you!!!!
- foodie/huge love for a wide variety of food
- cooking is such a special interest that I learned to work around two things:
1) my hatred of/inability to wash dishes
2) extreme disgust of touching soil/mud/bugs (tho I don't have any germophobia other than being freaked out by the thought of touching tiny & microscopic creatures, such as in a natural body of water, or soil/mud) to become a gardener to grow food not available in stores/not affordable to me...
.... and the gardening thing got to the point where I left the city to live on a rural property so I could grow a garden as big as I wanted, grow berries and start fruit & nut trees, and keep a chicken flock. If I can ever get my life-outside-of-gardening set up in a way that permits for it, I would like to run a tiny food-plant nursery offering asparagus crowns, garlic, nut trees, and berry bushes all hyper-adapted to the local conditions here. I also dream of being able to breed apple trees, though I doubt I'd come up with anything most people would be interested in (apples are a plant that isn't "true to seed" - if you grow out the seeds from an apple you eat, the new trees are highly unlikely to bear fruit that fully resembles the apple the seeds came from, and there are a BUNCH of very-undesirable-to-humans traits that are likely to be expressed such as bitterness, or HIGH acidity, or tough texture, or grainy texture)
back to the list of things it sounds like we share...
- needing complex texture, YES! At least for some foods. For example, I love lasagne (so long as there are no mushrooms, which is a different food topic and not quite part of the same problem I'm talking about here), but sometimes it's made with the "wrong" texture (too homogeneous of a texture, in this case) and it becomes an "I literally cannot put a bite of this in my mouth or I'll hurl" food even if the taste would otherwise be acceptable?
- I couldn't afford to go on "nice" trips very often, so instead, I used to go on lots of shoestring budget trips in order to be immersed in food cultures I enjoyed
- went through a bout of anorexia after struggling less-severely with food for a decade
- this didn't used to happen and I'm not certain it's related to autism, but I just saw for the first time in another comment on this video, something that is quite similar to something really weird that I experience GI-wise that's been going on for 20 years now.
@@rebeccaburnell9319okay, your garden and vision for it sound awesome!! I really hope you can make it all happen.
I have to admit I’m really into the idea of growing food forests and having a permaculture-style garden (if I can ever have a decent amount of land). I’d love to have a space dedicated to native plant restoration and wild edibles. I can’t seem to get enough of everything nature related!
Nature has been a life-long special interest of mine, I think probably because it feels so genuine and free, and it’s not even a question that I belong (unlike how I feel in our socioeconomic system as a whole). I think that’s why many autistic people are nature lovers. That passion has translated into my career-I’ve worked in outdoor leadership and community garden programs, and now I’m a horticulturalist! It’s the only kind of work I can think of that doesn’t compromise my moral code 😅
Combining nature and my love of food through gardening, foraging, and creating natural landscapes just feels like what I was meant to do.
I LOVED this parody of Good Eats (right?) What a fun way to present the information!!
Oh! I was wondering why I was so intrigued by the presentation! 😂 thanks for mentioning that.
I've only been diagnosed for a little over a year, but every day I learn more and more that what I couldn't explain is another characteristic of autism. "Interoception" is a new word for me, and now I can finally explain to people what I mean when I say that I forget to eat, or don't notice when I'm getting tired, etc. Thank you so much for this!
Great video 👏 I recently discovered your channel and I love binge watching all your older videos. I’m learning so much!
I laughed and laughed and laughed.... sorry, for minutes.... at 4:55 when the camera pulled back. That is so YOU, Chris. You are a consistent trigger for my sense of humor. Thanks so much. So the food thing; yeah, same thing, every day, nothing to think about. It's there. Done. I don't like preparing meals, like it takes 45 min to cook a typical meal of meat/veggies. When my body and thoughts catch up to food, I need to eat then, that moment, not start a meal and wait for it to get done. It's more than a matter of convenience, it's a way to avoid interrupting the flow of whatever universe I'm in. I've had a lifelong habit of suddenly needing to eat and instead of stopping to cook, I open a can of something I like and eat it cold out of the can. For a hot meal I can pop a frozen dinner (freezer packed full of the same dinner) in microwave for 6 min, but sometimes when the beeper goes off I'm in another universe and will have to get back to this one in order to eat. Dinner isn't hot by then, but I prefer room temp food. Weird quirk: a family member has their own space in my home, we're separated by the entire house. They eat in front of their TV and even in my room behind closed doors, headphones with music on, I can still hear them scraping their spoon on the bowl/plate, scraping up every...last...bit... I almost break into tears of gratitude when they're done.
Great video! I just wanted to say that I was really impressed with your production quality. I can tell that every last detail was precisely planned and executed. I look forward to watching more of your videos and seeing your channel really take off.
Nachos are my safe food, too!
I ate almost exclusively chicken tenders or Tostitos and hot salsa for a few years when I was a lot younger 😅
This speaks to me so much!!
Eating is such a huge part of communicating and bonding with people, but all these issues make it so hard to bear.
thanks mate , your videos have helped heaps. The understanding and acceptance of my real self gives me a lot of peace.
Great video, so well presented, interesting and relevant. Thank you
These videos are really helpful to me as someone who suspects autism. You do a really nice job of articulating feelings and experiences I have, and I’m hopeful that I can use these videos as a bridge to being able to better articulate my experiences, needs and sensitivities to the people I love.
I’m not so sure about the premiere format you chose for this video. It’s an interesting concept, but it didn’t add to the video for me.
Also, I think it’d be a fun idea to make a video on noticing body sensations and learning vocabulary on how to describe sensations. I’m curious if that would help me to better notice my bodily needs/functions a little sooner
I'm suspecting autism myself and it's been such an experience. i feel liberated & am behaving a bit differently. Stimming a lot. Some small social differences. A lot more self love & compassion. I'm asking for support much more. I'm being more intentional about taking social space.
I look forward to an official diagnosis. Whether I'm autistic or not, I'm learning a lot from the autistic community.
We're Not Broken by Eric Garcia is my favorite book, and it's what opened me up to seeking diagnosis.
All the help you need to understand your own needs will be learned with medical and professionel therapists,.they teach you and show you the way autistic can be
Nicely designed video, very informative and visually interesting! It kept my interest the entire time and I feel like I learned a lot also. Your house is really beautiful and the paint colors and layout are really calming and inviting.
Loved the way you make videos, your art of film making ❤️
Thank you for your channel and this video. I am a stepfather to a 28 year old “highly functioning autistic.” Watching and reading comments for these videos helps me more understand.
Is this really your kitchen. Bc holy organized !!! So fascinating to look at! It brings me so much joy!!
This video certainly explain a few things. Who had thought my mind, as beautiful as it is, might be related to my food habits as well.
When I was little, I used to swallow my veg pieces whole so I wouldn't have to taste them, and then save a bite of the best tasting food on my plate, for my last bite.
Whilst snacking, I like to put one piece in the right side of my mouth, and one piece in the left side of my mouth, chew, swallow - repeat.
I can eat pizza hot or cold for probably the rest of my ever-loving life.
I am a cheese-o-holic. I will choose cheese over something sweet.
The way you edit your videos are so fun! Gives me Good Eats! vibes
This is amazing! Thank you.
Great vid, ty. Makes me feel better knowing others are like me.
I liked your other video where you confess to eating almost the whole container of chocolate covered almonds in 1 day. I stim by eating. It's a lot of work to not overeat.
I watched this because I happen to have a lot of Autistic people in my life and I’ve never understood a lot of this. Only one of them has ever been able to explain but he can’t speak for the others who are too young and/or have more intense or even nonverbal autism. This is super helpful to know, it’ll be a lot easier to keep my patience with them and figure out ways to help if I can ❤
Thanks for watching and for being so supportive of the autistic people in your life! We need more people like you!! They are lucky to have someone who wants to learn to support them ❤️
Thanks for your video. I would like to add one of Ellyn Satter's books to your stack (NOT for the recipes) for their clearly stated philosophy about a division of responsibility about food. Adults provide reasonable food at predictable intervals. Children decide whether/how much to eat. The intention is to avoid being a snob about food, plan to accomodate some of the child's preferences at each meal, reduce pressure and give agency in eating. Kids serve themselves from food adults have chosen but there's no force feeding nor huge quantities of non-nutritious foods. (You may need to banish interfering grandparents.)
Selective eating was one of the earliest signs of autism in one of my twins. When they were three I literally made a Venn diagram to make sure I wasn't imagining it and to help meet his needs. (Yes, he probably gets it from me. I'm one of those undiagnosed women having a hundred aha moments leading up to his formal diagnosis.) I don't do the sneaky thing. We talk about and plan a protein and a veggie (because carbs and fat are easy). One of the best things I did for him at a young age was have one or two pieces of dried apricot or prunes (the old offer toddlers a choice deal) in the rotation of accepted foods and explain the connection between fiber and solving constipation. His food choices aren't always easy on his system but he knows how to solve it and we don't have to have a ton of conversations about it. A special waterbottle of the child's choosing for staying on top of hydration and chewable kids' multivitamins can also be a good idea if your doctor agrees. We aren't perfect, but he's ten now and a lot of the struggle and drama are gone from our lives.
Congrats Chris on such a funny, creative and perfectly executed video - apart from the excellent content.
Thanks for explaining and giving a bit of an insight as well as the facts and numbers.
I work with young people on the spectrum for many years now. We call it autism therapy, but in fact it's a bunch of different therapy styles and we pick what the actual person needs to learn to cope or understand or communicate better. I have met some autistic children and youngsters with atypical eating habits.
And I have a son who has the habit of eating the same thing again and again.
Having the same lunchbag every day for 2 years. Is very picky with vegetables and fruit. Does eat or drink the same thing until it makes him nauseous one day. He use to say "times have changed now. I don't like it anymore." And he sticks to it.
We have an agreement that he doesn't have to try things he don't want to, but I always ask him "do you wanna smell it?“ Very often, he does. And sometimes he tries. And very rare, but sometimes his face would show enlightment and he says sth like "mom! That's the second best sauce ever, right after mayonnaise!“ (wich is eaten with almost every dinner. Sausage with mayonnaise, chicken nuggets with mayonnaise, noodles with mayonnaise, baked cheese with mayonnaise...).
To get some vitamins into this lovely boy, we make sure to have sandwiches or burgers every now and then. We all like them, and everyone can put on the bun whatever they like. But here he takes a bit of salad and cucumber, wich he often won't. He also likes turkish Döner, wich comes with some greens too. Mozzarella and cucumber with balsamico. Raspberries, mango, wild strawberries. That's it. So fresh juice is a good option to get extra nutritions.
One thing with mayonnaise at the time! He doesn't like it when there is a full meal on his plate. First the sausage, then the noodles.
I thaught of getting him tested several times. But there is so much that doesn't fit into the spectrum. On the other hand, there are some things that do.
But then, I'm thinking: "hey. Work has overtaken your brain again. This is just a normal boy."
Thanks for this video again, and for every other one I have watched until now. You provide insight and facts without seeming to teach me. But I do learn a lot!
7:26 We wear the same socks!! I can’t stand regular cotton socks with the bane of my existence, toe seam! I love smart wool, darn tough and fox river, merino wool all the way!! Plus, super cool foot stool, made me laugh!
Purely through happenstance nearly every person I work with at one particular location is autistic (including me). It’s so freeing that for once we are the normal ones and the regular people don’t fit in to the established culture. Not unusual for people to stop at a random time for lunch (when they remember) eat the same thing as on the last thirty days, sit in silence or head in some really obscure book etc
Work in a dinosaur museum, I thoroughly recommend it. I always felt like a freak out in the ‘real world’. The trick is to find the rest of your people!
I totally relate to this for so many reasons.
Nice and short but has lots of helpful tips!
Super relatable, super informative, and great production quality too! Please keep up this excellent work. My safe food is toast. If I ever eat / sample something that yes, I do need to spit out, my reset food is toast. Buttered. With Ketchup. Hey, I didn't choose this safe food, it chose me. I can not eat things that are hot, so I let the toast cool mostly too. Cheese sandwiches. And yes I sometimes get locked in on a certain food and wonder why would I ever eat anything else ever!
Cheese sandwiches - what my grandma always ate in nursing homes. Period.
I love grilled cheese - but not too hot - just warm, and melty. Comforting.
Toast too, with butter and nutritional yeast or almond butter. 😋
Burned mouth is the worst! Spit it out, spit it out! 😆
Wow it’s amazing to know others don’t know when they are hungry or thirsty ….this same for me and also when I have full bladder I don’t know until it’s “Run” to Bano ❗️
So many times I was concentrating on a project that had something to do with a 'special interest', i.e. automotive and engine repair and building, that I wouldn't notice time as it went by while I was working. Yeah, I'll grab lunch soon ... oh wait it's 9:30PM. How did this happen? I also remember being a kid in 1st grade and going to a McDonald's on a field trip for school, and having a meltdown in the restaurant because I didn't get my burger plain and was told by my teacher to 'pick off what I don't want' ...
Gods, this explains so much, like why I can't stand how freaking loudly my dad chews his food, why I prefer eating by myself (not at a table with others,) and why I canNOT deal with mushy fruit like jam and fruit pie - that stuff is VILE. (My safe food is spaghetti primavera!)
Wow, this sheds light on my issues with eating disorders. I’ve never heard of interoception but I have it. Big time. I also have misanphonia and am beyond annoyed by people’s eating and drinking noises. I prefer to eat alone at home. The stress of eating at social events and having to use the bathroom in public are the biggest factors.
"Either don't be picky or don't let your pickiness show." (Grandma)
I think Grandma was indoctrinated to deny herself; her wants, her needs
@@patriciajohn8196Or OR when ya go through a depression, poverty, or tough time; being picky means death.
But, hey, some people are just indoctrinated not to think.
Was grandma teaching how to mask? 🤔
Watching Chris spew hot coffee - I said "that's my grandma!". She couldn't stand hot foods, especially coffee - had to have ice cubes thrown in, until it was the right temperature. Burger king fish sandwich, and black lukewarm coffee - that's what my grandma ate - every time we went out.
Creative, outspoken, "eccentric", ripping open packages wildly, moving at high speed always, particular about food and its temperatures - all just like me. Loved grandma, and always identified with her.
Hmm... think my autism's roots may have skipped back a generation.😜
My eating habits have always been horrible. Growing up, I never ate before 5pm. I always skipped breakfast in the morning (still do, hate breakfast). My mom used to prepare my sandwiches when I was in grades 1-3, but I hated them and they would always end up becoming moldy in my backpack, so she gave up after that. At school I would get hungry and had to wait till coming back home to eat. I subconsciously knew that this would happen every day, yet preparing any food to school never crossed my mind- if I'm not hungry at the moment, I don't plan ahead. As a 6'4 (194cm) teenage male, I weighed 130lbs (60kg). This carried on even through college.
I got a little better at eating when I started working out at 30 years old, but keeping an eating schedule is still difficult.
I also don't like a lot of foods and don't like the feeling of being full and sleepy.
If soylent green were real I’d be all about it. Cooking, eating, and then cleaning up afterwards is just the worst. Gimme the people cubes!
My favourite safe food is a mocha flavoured vegan protein shake. I add powdered macadamia nuts and a couple tablespoons of nutritional olive oil. The nuts add healthy fats and a nice flavour plus some good calories and the oil is really good for my gut flora and has a plethora of other health benefits as well. I also have a liquid probiotic that is completely odourless and flavourless that I put in as well. Blenders are too messy and loud so I invested in a really good shaker cup from Shakesphere and I added a little shaker ball to it so everything gets mixed together really well and I get a nice mini arm workout too. I love the taste of coffee but I don’t want to drink it more than a few times a month at most because caffeine can make me feel anxious and disregulated, so mocha flavour is my go-to because it tastes like coffee but has no caffeine in it. Drinking a meal is way easier than eating one for me, and although I would drink a shake for every meal if I could, I have to limit myself to just one at breakfast or I don’t get proper nutrient absorption. Eating first thing in the morning is just not possible for me so this is a key part of my routine and is a simple and easy way to get some fuel.
Any other autistics out there that feel extremely anxious when one of their safe foods suddenly says on the label “New Improved Taste!” Sometimes it’s actually better and I can breathe a sigh of relief, but recently one of my favourite brands changed the recipe for their line of Indian food to be more spicy and I can’t tolerate spicy foods so I lost like 6 safe foods all at once because eating them makes my nose run and face sweat 😭
Eating yogurt or drinking milk with hot foods takes away the burn really quickly.
I often eat my spicy foods with a dollop of sour cream.
There is a real product called soylent. You might like it.
I’ve always preferred tepid food too which has created so many issues for me. Thanks for addressing this\\wasting water was unnecessary*
My son was recently diagnosed with autism at 9. Though I suspected it quite a while now.
His eating can exclude foods at time, some he really does not want (a certain way), and he has a thing with food touching eachother unless he mixes it himself. I take that into account while cooking... always did really.. yay for segmented plates. Allover his eating habits are pretty easy to accomodate and keep healthy. The sounds thing while eating is extremely recognisable.. then again mom (me) gets the severe ick from eatingsounds too so I can understand him well there.
My son also always had stomach/bowel pains and annoyances (With a diary I did often see a link with stress). It got me worried many times. Doctors never found anything and pretty much dismissed it as he'll grow over it. I never, till you mentioned it in this video, made the connection to it possibly having a link with his autism. No doctor ever mentioned that to me. I am going to look into that a bit more.
Food is DEF a huge issue for me. I have always had food prefs but it wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized this was another trait of ASD. My husband will ask what is “on the food list for the week” because I might eat rice and veggies for a week or two straight and then just STOP. Same with my food ‘touching.’ I deconstruct nearly everything.
Thank you for sharing! I am glad I found your channel! 😊
Our lad is with you on the natchos :) Also, he's been vegetarian since age 7 or 8....totally his choice!
I wonder if this is why I hate cooking and meal planning? It seems overwhelming but I never attributed it to this. I definitely see these traits.
Growing up I was always considered a picky kid. I'm now 22 and am a little less picky than when I was a kid. I only started looking into autism a few months ago after my autistic partner noticed some signs. Also, being a girl, if I am autistic, it would make sense why I would not have gotten diagnosed. I'll be honest that I also have struggled with disorders throughout my life and am trying my best to not go down that rabbit hole again though it is difficult. I avoid a lot of different types of food such as seafood (except canned tuna) and vegetables. No berries except for strawberries, no ham or sausage, no sauces except for ketchup and BBQ. It's hard to adapt to others' preferences which makes ordering food at restaurants really hard because if I get a specially made meal, that leaves me with a chance that they will not do it. I have had several instances when they have to remake it because they added a sauce or something that will not be able to be just picked out/off such as pickles. I will say I am glad I do not have misophonia with chewing or slurping, but the sound of silverware clanging together or on a plate is so startling. It's like nails on a chalkboard. I am looking into getting an assessment done, but due to how expensive they are, I'm definitely going to have to wait.
Crunch is a huge sensory need I have! Those nachos look great 👍 The fear of feeling faint led me to binge eating which is super frustrating 😊
I am thankful that I eat a wide variety of foods. In fact, I am a bit of a foodie. My primary consideration when traveling is trying new foods.
I do have to avoid some foods for tummy issues though. I also have the same breakfast every day (protein shake blended with frozen fruit).
This is such an important topic. I'm 35 and still figuring out good eating habits and routines for myself.
I grew up undiagnosed and expected to mask, and also very poor. There often wasn't food, and when there was, it was often cheap gross stuff that upset my stomach. I had extreme IBS from at least age 10 til my early 30s.
It's also easy for me to forget to eat and I used to work so much that I deprioritized food for the time constraint, not acknowledging that it depletes me so much faster if I let my blood sugar dip.
A huge huge trick for me was finding a suitable breakfast food. My stomach is usually upset in the morning and I often wouldn't eat for hours. It became important for me to eat *something*. And it needed to be textures and flavors I could stand because honestly I can't stand the feeling of food in my mouth in the morning. And it needed to be something gentle and alkaline to soothe my stomach. So for the last like 13 months, I eat a small bowl of buttered rice every morning. Sometimes I mix other stuff in, like some collard greens or peas. But it sets my stomach right, helps the blood sugar, and then I'm ready for a big powerful lunch later.
I've only recently embraced that my grocery list can look almost identical every time, and that it truly checks all my boxes for nutrition and calories. The hard part is making sure I stay stocked up on what I actually like to rotate through.
Cheers, I really enjoyed this video. 🩵✌️
I am a 56yo autist and I definitely know what I like and what I don't like.
hahaha this is so true 😅 makes creating a shopping list simple, and eating alone omg 😱
I definitely have issues remembering to eat. My husband had to remind me the other day after he'd went to work because I'd just been to overwhelmed with everything. 😅
I will eat the same thing for months at a time. I used to live with someone who would make fun of me about it saying I was just like a little kid. This really hurt my feelings. I seriously find buying and preparing food to be a challenge. When I had kids, I could never figure out what to cook them each day. I finally made a four week rotating calendar where each night of the week (Sun through Sat) had a different theme, ie Mexican, Italian, Persian, etc, and then I would list four different meals for each week with those themes (ie Monday was Mexican food nights, Tuesday was Italian food nights, etc). This made things so much easier because it took away the literal panic I would feel each night regarding what to cook.
It's good to see a video about ND eating disorders. I'd noticed myself skipping meals through hyper fixation. If I'm doing something more sedentary like study or reading I didn't particularly notice and I'd sorta catch up a meal later. However when I'm being active and definitely needing my 2.5+k calories a day and I forgot to eat, things can become disastrous if my blood sugars drop too low 😳😬 It's weird to describe anorexia type symptoms without actively thinking about skipping meals.
I'm lucky that I don't have many foods I can't palette. Flavour or texture, but some (eg dairy) my body will react to when eaten in excess 😓
Okay, now I get why I eat superfast and don't linger at table. Thank you 😊
And is sensory also because of the socializing expectation during eating with other people --that without adding the dysregulation that comes from "having" to socialize..
At least for me, the worst thing to do was to pressure me to eating certain foods. Many autistic people have associative memory, so it actually just associated the displeasure to the food item. And in retrospect, pressuring also triggered my PDA. A much better way was to let me ease in to different foods at my own pace. For example, letting me smell stuff. I guess also having cut the vegetables myself etc. might have worked in letting me to familiarize with the textures via less sensitive body parts than my mouth. The key thing, I would say, is to see what works, and ditch stuff that doesn't work. And for autistic people, the typical tricks might just not cut it. There are so many life hacks that just don't work for me, like "how to fall asleep in two minutes". (By the way, over the time in my adulthood, I've learned to eat and even like most foods, but there are still some I just cannot stand).
LOL I am so with the eating the same food everyday - I literally hate it when my husband is working near home for food as it completely takes away my ability to just eat the same thing every day for each meal .... I mean, I suppose it's good for me, but .... I like just eating the same thing, same time, every day - and, bless him, it's literally only one meal a day - but it really throws me for several weeks!
Also that was SO MEAN - the pain hurts from the noise!
The best thing to solve my autistic-correlating GI problems, has been to force myself to eat way more salad than I can comfortably swallow. And it has to be BEFORE the main course, not after.
The BEFORE makes a big difference for digestion for me; it's as if it opens a path for my main course to not get stuck in my guts......also I noticed, salad BEFORE EXTREME SPICY FOOD......that is when you realize the value of the BEFORE opening a path for that spicy food to pass consistently.
I have extra salad prep'd for a few days. I now eat salad with my morning eggs, and I eat salad with dinner.
It sucks, but the next day it all goes down in a few pushes, rather than the typical 30-minutes on the toilet and multiple visits of so.
Also I found out a salad that works for me, other people all through my childhood just really suck at making salad. I realized didn't hate salad....I hated THEIR SALAD! Haha. So my salad has a lot of greens, LOTS of slithered red/white onions, and apple-vinegar/olive-oil, and the relevant dry herbs seasonings from the pantry. (Pomegranate seeds when it's in season).
Also realizing this: Eat less, poop less.
Enjoying one of my safe foods while watching this! Teriyaki ramen, it's fast, easy, and comforting. (I totally love nachos too)
My food preferences and tastes have changed over the years. But one thing my autistic brain will not handle is anything spicy/hot. Like people going "this is not spicy" and me going "it is!" 😢
My boyfriend now has a spicy sense developed where he will try a suspicious food for me and really focus on it. Then if deemed safe, he'll be like, well it is probably ok, at least I didn't detect anything. And then should I taste something, he will try to taste what I'm responding to, so he has a better sense for next time ❤ it's gotten to the point where he's about 99% accurate. It really helps me when getting foods in an unfamiliar environment.
We all eat different foods in my house. I have a suspicion that my son may have Aspergers autism like I do. I have always been into cold or room temperature foods. Have to be in the mood for something warm. I do have issues with responding to the needs for food or drinks so I put an alarm on every 2 hours to help me with taking a drink of water or snack on something. Love eating while I stand up so does my son sometimes we have to walk around while we eat, can’t stand noises ,no music, no tv, no talking during a meal. Have to pick quiet restaurants. I do have some restaurants under my needs when I am in public I don’t do any walking while I eat but I do still get to stand. My son eats only hot food majority of the time so his cold and room temperature foods are only 2 of each kind. When I get a reminder for liquid I remind him at the same time. Sometimes we both get dizzy at some point. I used to panic and try to drink and eat until the dizziness went away but that sometimes ended up with a stomach ache. Now I have gotten help to understand my eating habits so I don’t over indulge or panic from dizziness. My parents thought I was over dramatic when I refused to eat any kind of meat, I just hate the way it feels in my mouth and I can’t stand it. So I would end up spitting it in my napkin or waiting for my parents to leave the table to give it to my sister so I could eat her veggies that she didn’t like eating and she could have the meat from my plate. I was always swapping food with my siblings because I just can’t stand hot or warm food most of the time. Cold and room temperature food is my favorite kind of foods because of the temperature and most of them feel good in my mouth and are enjoyable. When we can a diagnosis for my son they will help us with my son’s eating habits. Hopefully this will help parents understand that there is nothing wrong with the way we eat because you have your way of going about it which you are not aware of what you are doing during mealtimes. Your habits seem normal to you just as much as we think ours are normal. It seems most people without autism don’t mind noise during their meals and conversations. Plus most of you open your mouths when chewing, make humming noises, and tap on the table with your fingers or a utensil. It’s just too much noise for me and my son most of the time agrees with that. He hates being in restaurants, we have to take our food to go or get it delivered. He has to do his fast walking during mealtime.
Ha yes! I'm generally eating most things, I've trained myself to try even stuff that i wouldn't touch as a kid, like endives or leek, because as an adult i realize they're healthy and I've made efforts to find recipes i can enjoy. There are only a few things that i really can't tolerate. But if I'm burning out / really stressed my diet suddenly reverts to "cheese & egg pasta like my dad made it when i was a kid". When i was first wondering if I'm autistic i thought my eating habits were normal, unless i was depressed, but after a month or so i realized that i hadn't eaten anything but pasta since before i had started having meltdowns every other day because of the noise at work, and i was definitely not depressed, only exhausted and frustrated. It was only then that i actually "noticed" my real eating habits. 😅
And now i also understand why it always seemed so weird to me how people could feel sick "because they missed a meal". I mean i was regularly going the whole day without a meal, sometimes even 2 days. I generally got hungry in the middle of something, briefly thought i wasn't going to interrupt that for such a mondane reason as eating, and then 10 minutes later i had forgotten about it. Then at some point I'd decide it was time to eat (not hungry but i should eat something) and then the second the smell of food got to my nostrils I'd become ravenous. For most of my life i thought that's how everyone reacts to hunger, that it's a minor nuisance unless you're body is truly starved of some nutrients. So for years i just thought those people who couldn't go a day without food must be anemic or something. Turns out they were "normal" and didn't just "forget they were hungry"... Mind blown...😮 That said, i sort of feel like that's a bonus of autism, as long as you're aware of it and schedule meals so you don't end up anorexic. I can't imagine how people go through the day if they can't forget they're hungry, you practically never get to eat exactly when you get hungry, so i imagine you just feel hungry most of the time?!? Must be soooo annoying! It would drive me nuts! 😅
This is a really lovely video! It was soothing to watch and would have been very informative for family and friends when I was younger! Still could be helpful in the future if I'm invited to dinner parties!!!
Nachos! Yes! We lived by this place that had the best nachos, but then we moved, and no other nachos are as good as those were. Also, thank you for introducing me to needoh cubes. They're all over my house now and my autistic daughter (4) loves them, too.
I’m so impressed by you having NZ sour cream! Looks like it could do with a little squeezing to mix it up hehe Kia ora from Aotearoa 👋
I’m scheduled for an autism evaluation on July 1st. Meanwhile, videos like yours really resonate with me. I hate pungent vegetables, and have a particular aversion to onion. The taste and texture are repulsive to the point of gagging. My go-tos are simple pizza and pasta.
I never even considered that my eating habits (and occasional diarrhea) might be tied to autism. Thank you for the insight.
I once ate Quorn nuggets, oven fries, frozen peas and corn 4 nights a week for 9 months, with fish and chips or pasta rounding out two more evenings and junk food on the last.
I struggle with all of this, thus the rule that I drink water every time I go into the kitchen. My dog helps me to remember to eat. He tells me when he is hungry, so I make me food then.
You are so right. If your dog eats well, it encourages you to eat.
It's me. I like macaroni with bran and condensed soup (something mild like cream of celery which has almost no celery---and, I actually don't like celery unless it's cooked and it is definitely cooked in a can o soup from the store). One can of soup will last for 4 meals of macaroni and bran. I like the feel of the macaroni combined with the very different texture of the bran. The soup is meerly moisture so that I don't choke on the dryness of macaroni and bran; and the soup is also smooth. And, barely warm---enough to make a slurry of the soup.
It's nice to learn how I'm not autistic at all.
Since adolescence I've had GI problems, like reflux and bowel issues especially with certain foods, as well as rarely noticing hunger signals. I usually either eat because it's time, if I currently have structure, or not until I get hypoglycemic and shaky... On the other hand, I feel more sensitive to physical discomfort and pain. I'm constantly uncomfortable in most clothes.
I strongly suspect ADHD, ASD, AvPD, or some combination of those in myself. Unfortunately, due to unemployment, I have no idea if or when I can address these things in any way but on my own.
I have always tended toward bland food in general, but after I had a bout of diverticulitis last year my safe meal is rice with canned chicken breast and frozen peas.
This is my first video of yours, but thank you for the content. Also, you have a very handsome home.
I thought my hatred for people watching me eat, eating the same food every day, hatred of listening to people eating, picking at my food in a systematic way, all had to do with my anorexia nervosa.
I was alone with Dad one morning as a kid, eating breakfast. We were sitting there eating, no tv, no radio. His chewing got louder and louder. The tongue smacking, swishing, swashing, swallowing, crunching. Finally I screamed, “Stop!! Just … STOP IT!!!” Poor Dad sat there like a deer caught in the headlights, a piece of toast hanging out of his mouth as I ran from the room crying. I remember every second of that encounter.
I cannot stand listening to people talking online without music or background noise. The sound of their spit bubbles in their mouth popping, their dry tongue getting stuck on the top of their mouth and slowly pulling it away like it’s velcroed on their mouth, their throat making odd noises. Yuck! Thankfully, this video didn’t have those noises.
And yes the plate sounds! I hate the sound of forks and knives scraping across a plate. Just THINKING about it makes me cringe!!
I hate hearing people drink.
So I wear earplugs when I have to eat with someone, and they refuse to turn on a tv. It takes the edge off the sounds.
Tip: if you can’t handle certain noises, don’t get an African grey parrot! Oh! My! Gosh!!! I inherited Dad’s bird and I caught him making Dad’s chewing sounds!! Seriously??! Sheesh!!
Food feeling safe...comfort foods. That really resonates with me. When the world is scary I like to crunch popcorn or other crunchies (NOT vegies though dang it!) or eat smooth creamy ice cream type foods. It's caused a lot of struggle with weight gain...I have to really work hard to keep myself healthy, and although I am not huge, I do feel heavier than I wish I was. Things in the world have been extra stressful these past years.
Add to this how much I LOVE to eat...many foods are a sensory delight to me.
I struggle to know when I am actually full, and being full isn't always "satisfying"...it's like the chewing is stimming...and it doesn't work to chew on non-food items or vegies very well. It's a constant issue to eat healthy foods and STOP, and maintain a weight that is not too much.
Now that I understand my audhd brain more I see why regular "diet" programs, even healthy eating programs do not work at all. They are based on NT brains and to me their suggestions are stupid and I can't follow them.
We need Autistic diet programs, but they would be individualized. Perhaps in the future dietitians will be trained and can offer them. Now it's up to me to figure it out. Bottom line is that I think about food a lot more than I wish I did.