Ben ate a new food.

[Viper]

Ok it was only a brussel leaf but he ate it. He also eat a roast pottatoe which he has eaten before but only with coaxing.

I have been watching "The house of tiny tearaways" and used some of their tactics. We told Ben if he eats everything on his plate his Dad will play a PS2 game with him. I didn't want to make it too hard so only gave him a leaf. He has never even tollerated one on his plate before let alone eat it.

 

I feel it's a step in the right direction so I'm quite chuffed. Isn't it strange how something so small can be such a big achievment for our kids?

 

Viper.

Edited December 4, 2005 by Viper

[Tylers-mum]

Yep. It's taken 6 yrs to get T to try new foods and thankfully, with the help of his ex-LSA, he is doing wonders now. Tries new foods and tollerates em on his plate. May be a very slow eater and may refuse most things but at least he is trying them!

 

House of Tiny Tearaways is excellent! Way to go Tanya!!!

[Viper]

TM, I have applied to go on the programme but they aren't filming at the moment so I am on file. I just hope I get a call at some point, I need help with Bens eating and his toilet phobia.

 

Viper.

[sue1957]

At four my son ate a very restricted diet, same food, done in the same way, same plate, etc etc. Fluoride was the cause of his phobia.

 

He's now eight, and will eat pretty much anything. Yesterday he asked for a second helping of home made vegetable soup, made with vegetables that at four wouldn't even make it to his plate separately let alone mixed up in a soup. He said you cant beat a homemade vegetable soup made by your Mum.

[lisann]

Viper well done to Ben it's great when they achive even the smallest of thing

 

Lisa x

[Viper]

Sue1952, what do you mean when you say Fluoride was the cause of his phobia?

 

Viper.

[sue1957]

Sue1952, what do you mean when you say Fluoride was the cause of his phobia?

 

Viper.

Viper,

 

My son very slowly started his problems when he started brushing his baby teeth with a children's fluoride toothpaste. (We don't have fluoridated water). It was really a slow process, but he gradually developed food phobia, would only eat white/off white foods, (krispies and milk for breakfast, lunch was ham sandwich, white bread, squares not triangles, no crust, a yogurt, and an occasional apple but only if the peel was completely removed and there was no sign of a blemish, tea was a quorn burger, coating completely removed, or mashed potato, seldom both. If a pea touched his plate, nothing on the plate would be eaten. It had to be the right plate etc etc). He would also not go outside the house without a peaked cap, and hated being outside. Lining up cars etc... Also water phobic, washing his face and head especially. He had gut problems as well, finally twigged it when he was ill (again!) with a bad stomach but insisted on the ritual of teeth brushing.

 

Within a few days of changing to a non fluoride toothpaste, his light sensitivity stopped (and so did the hat ritual), he decided he wanted to eat coleslaw and helped me make it, and gradually as the fluoride left his body he started to eat better, much more variety etc. He will now try just about anything, including squid on holiday, and he wants to go to France to try frogs legs.

 

Fluoride is neurotoxic, and some people don't excrete it very well. I think it can sometimes damage the thirst mechanism, and without a thirst sensation less gets flushed out via the kidneys, and it builds up in the body, and parts of the brain. Sometimes I think that you can just take it in faster than you can excrete it. There is a website www.fluoridealert.org which has a health effects database that is worth having a look at. The sources of fluoride on the website may not be completely accurate for UK as most of the US is fluoridated which means a lot of their wines, and beers etc will be contaminated, but it gives a general idea. Fluoridated water is probably worse because the fluoride used is apparently often a byproduct from the aluminium industry. But the stuff in fluoride toothpaste even if it is pharmaceutical grade was enough to cause problems for my son. We now go to great lengths to avoid the toxic chemicals in toiletries, household products, soap powders etc, many of which carry warnings in chemical databases about their health effects, and some of which are known to cause sensory problems.

 

This probably sounds weird, but I think of it as his body knew something his mind didn't. He "knew" he was being poisoned via the mouth, so his mind needed to check his food was "safe." When his body was no longer absorbing fluoride through his gums, he no longer needed to suspect his food. The hat ritual I believe was because fluoride affects the pineal, the "light meter" and the peaked cap kept the sun out of his eyes. He couldn't verbalise why he needed it, so developed the ritual. When the fluoride poisoning stopped, his light sensitivity lessened, and he no longer needed the hat ritual to stop his eyes hurting in natural daylight. I'm sure there are probably some who are not as badly sensitive as he is to fluoride, so not everyone will get such light sensitivity etc, but it might be worth having a look at.

 

Sorry I've rambled on - as you can see fluoride is my pet hate!

[alibaly]

Viper, I truly understand just how happy you are about this.

 

 

My son has dreadful issues with food but the other night he went and took 2 small cartons of orange juice out of the fridge and drank them. We sat there not daring to move in case we put him off, when he had finished them we asked if he liked it and he said, "yes and me want to grow big." We had been trying for 3 weeks to introduce new tastes and had been telling him he had to eat to grow big, well at nealry 15 he is 5 foot 9 inches tall so I guess we were fibbing but it worked with the juice. He then wanted us to measure him on the door frame just to see how much he had grown from last time and he tried his shoes on as well to see if they still fitted.

 

I home ed and when I'm planning what to work on next I usually devote a scholastic year to work on something, between now and June the emphasis will be on helping him to eat better. If things improve before June then great but I find that having a good lenght of time set aside in my mind to do something is really effective. Oh and we did have some luck with an omelette, he ate half of one but it was shared with me and very much a case of one piece for you and one for me, and I fed him off my fork as well.

[Guest flutter]

great

[mossgrove]

TM, I have applied to go on the programme but they aren't filming at the moment so I am on file. I just hope I get a call at some point, I need help with Bens eating and his toilet phobia.

 

Viper.

Viper

 

Have you asked for a referall by your GP to what used to be called the 'incontinence nurse'?

 

These days they can deal with a wide range of toiletting issues and she was a great help to us with our eldest who finally finished with nappies a few weeks before his 5th birthday.

 

 

Simon

[Viper]

Moss,we have had a bad experience with the incontinence nurse. She was quite well in with the head of Bens old school and accused us of "colluding with him to keep him in nappies" not at all clued up on ASD's.

 

Viper.

[mossgrove]

Viper

 

It's a shame when professionals pre-judge issues. Is she the only pone in your area?

 

Simon

[UltraMum]

I realised that we had made progress at a recent party thrown by the local autistic society...

 

Last year J would only eat the centre of the sausage rolls and I had to 'peel' them all - this year he peeled them himself!

[Jadensmum]

Well done Ben! fab news!!!!

 

Denisex

[kirstie]

It's excellent when they try something new.

Lewis will eat scrambled egg, chips and sausage and pasta without any sauce and thats about it. anything extra on his plate will put him off too. Recently at school he's started to lick a peice of fruit and although he won't take a bite i think its a massive step forward. I would love to give hima healthier diet. we just give him lots of praise and try not to make it too much of an issue!

Kirst.