Can't Eat, Won't Eat: Dietary Difficulties and the Autism Spectrum Disorders

Finding out that your child has Asperger's Syndrome or Autism can be devastating enough, but when you discover that he or she won't eat 99.9 per cent of all food and drink in the known universe, the fun really starts. This was the situation the author found herself in a decade ago when her son first took a dislike to milk, and then to virtually every other substance she attempted to feed him. Her book was written to reassure other parents that there are lots of people out there in the same boat, and to suggest practical methods of dealing with the problem. As well as drawing on her own experience, the author has spoken to parents, children, and professionals with first-hand knowledge of dietary difficulties, and their advice and comments form a key part of the book. Can’t Eat, Won’t Eat: Dietary Difficulties and Autistic Spectrum Disorders......Page 5 Contents......Page 7 Acknowledgements......Page 8 Introduction......Page 11 1 Beyond Faddiness......Page 13 2 Improvements and Setbacks......Page 27 3 I Blame the Parents......Page 44 4 Throw out the Rule Book......Page 56 5 Survey Results......Page 65 6 Hints and Tips......Page 83 7 More Hints and Tips......Page 102 8 What We Think of Food......Page 117 9 Social Difficulties......Page 130 10 Exclusion Diets......Page 140 11 Doctors and Dentists......Page 150 12 Professional Advice......Page 160 13 Great Ormond Street......Page 168 14 Back to School......Page 178 15 All Food is Good Food......Page 191 Epilogue......Page 196 Bibliography......Page 198 Useful Addresses......Page 199 Index......Page 202 Additional thanks......Page 201 "Finding out that your child has Asperger syndrome or autism can be devastating enough, but when you discover that he or she won't eat 99.9 per cent of all food and drink in the known universe, the fun really starts. This was the situation the author found herself in a decade ago when her son first took a dislike to milk, and then to virtually every other substance she attempted to feed him. Her book was written to reassure other parents that there are lots of people out there in the same boat, and to suggest practical methods of dealing with the problem. As well as drawing on her own experience, the author has spoken to parents, children, and professionals with first-hand knowledge of dietary difficulties, and their advice and comments form a key part of the book."--Publisher description It was the middle of the night and I'd been woken by the sound of my son coughing loudly.