Have you tried to put your child with autism on a diet and then soon realized that you encountered one of these common autism diet problems?
Let me explain to you what these common autism diet problems are and you can avoid them and solve them quickly if and when they do occur.
1. Your child won’t eat the food you cook. This is hands down the number one most frequent autism diet problem I hear about. While this can be a problem from time to time for all children even those who aren’t on the autism spectrum, the best way to avoid this happening frequently is to involve your child with the cooking and shopping. Let your child help you chose your meals, from those foods you select and approve ahead of time and let him or her help you cook, if he or she is able.
2. Other children in your family complain. This is a tough one as it’s always hard on the rest of the family when a child has to follow a special diet. Involving the other children in meal prep and shopping can solve this some of the time. The rest of the time, you may need to have a conversation with the other children to find out why they are complaining.
3. Your food bill doubles in cost. This is one of the main reasons many parents of a child with autism are hesitant to even try an autism diet, yet this doesn’t need to happen. See my other blog post. How to Make Kid Pleasing Gluten free and Dairy Free Meals Without Breaking the Bank for tips and ideas on how to implement a special diet for your child without this happening.
4. One or more of your family members doesn’t support your efforts. This is again another common autism diet problem but yet it’s not unsolvable. The main thing in this case, is that you need to take action to gain support. In most cases, a lack of support for a special diet is caused by a failure to understand the why behind it.
5. You are confused about which autism diet to try. There is so much information on the internet and in books on autism diets, that this is completely understandable. See my other post How to Create and Follow an Autism Diet for some tips.
6. You get tired of eating the same things over and over. While this can become an issue, in my opinion it is one of the easiest autism diet problems to solve. Your child probably has some favorite foods that he or she really likes and if you feel like you are always eating them, you can find ways to mix things up and avoid getting tired of the same foods. I personally have found pinterest to be an invaluable resource for this.
7. You aren’t sure which food your child has a reaction to. This is a tough one and the best way to solve this is to do an elimination diet. I offer coaching and training on how to do this. You can also read this post. How to Successfully Do a Food Sensitivity Elimination Diet
8. Your child has other allergies. This is tough but again it’s not unsolvable. The main way to deal with this is to figure out which food or foods are the worst for him or her and over time remove things from the diet.
9. Traveling while following an autism diet is a pain. Yes and it always will be to one degree or another. However, with advance planning and preparation, you can lessen the pain. The best way to solve this one is to prepare and bring some of your own food with you. You also will want to book hotels with a kitchen as much as possible.
10. It takes you forever to cook and you feel like you live in the kitchen. Believe it or not, this is the easiest one to solve in my opinion. Learn how to cook simple healthy meals rather than meals that take a long time, have more than 10 ingredients and require things you’ve never cooked before in your life. I strive to solve this with my simple healthy eating guide.
Did this help you? If so, I would greatly appreciate a share on Facebook, twitter, linkedin, or pinterest.
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