I just returned from the store and was reminded of just how challenging having a child with #Autism and food allergies is.
Elliott, my 6 year old prince with
aspergers, has been diagnosed with tree nut allergies. This has thrown our grocery shopping into a tailspin.
Elliott was a picky eater before the allergies were discovered. He has a host of sensory issues and is very sensitive to things like color, taste, smell and texture. We have now had to eliminate a huge amount of things that he would actually eat because they contain ingredients that that pose a serious health hazard.
Getting Elliott to eat now is like trying to get our dogs to do chores around the house, a pipe dream.
We have to give him PediaSure every day now. This hasn’t been a positive experience thus far. For starters, he doesn’t like them. That’s a problem because he won’t finish all the time.
Each one of these little 8 oz nutritional shakes costs about $2 each.
These have really put a hurtin’ on our grocery budget. When he doesn’t finish them, it’s kinda like insult to injury. Does that make sense?
As I’m sure many of you can relate to, getting a child with autism and or sensory related issues to eat can be a challenge on the best of days. It’s even worse with both hands tied behind your back.
Elliott is very high functioning but has crippling anxiety and depression.
He’s lost a great deal of control over his life recently. It’s hard to know what is what with him.
All I can say is this.
If I made the rules, when a child is diagnosed with autism, they get an automatic pass on things like food allergies, sensory issues and other metabolic or health related issues.
If only I made the rules………..
I feel you. My oldest child with autism who is almost five, was diagnosed with food allergies when he was just a couple months shy of two years old. I received the initial call from the pediatrician indicating that Jacob was allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, soy, milk and eggs on Christmas eve. I looked in my fridge and began to cry. Thankfully, he wasn’t old enough to know what too many foods tasted like, but it’s still taken a bite out of our pocket book. My youngest child, age 2, also with autism thankfully doesn’t have the food allergies. He is just a little guy who thinks stopping to eat is a complete waste of time and therefore is only 26 pounds despite the two pediasure that he happily chugs down everyday. I wish you nothing but the best of luck. I don’t know if it gets any easier, but you get used to it.
@Rebecca thanks for sharing that. I wish you the best of luck as well. If you learn anything that makes this easier,please share and I’ll do the same. 🙂
my kiddo is also dependent on pediasure. thankfully he likes the chocolate one, but only after I make a few changes. he wont take it as is. but if I had a scoop of malt powder, and a drizzle of caramel syrup, he will suck it right down.
Have you tried Ovaltine powder? it has the same calorie and nutritional content as pediasure when made with whole milk, but it’s SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper (we are going through 116 8 oz bottles per month in our house) and there are more flavor options than pediasure has, I think that the ovaltine actually tastes better. I got a special bottle from the grocery store for $8 called a blender bottle. it has this special little wire ball in it, that works like a whisk. it is the only method I’ve found to get the ovaltine (and add ins in our case) to all mix thoroughly and not have that grainy powdered drink mix texture. it also adds a creaminess to it. I can’t really explain it, but it changes it. might be something to look into. I’ve found the large cans of ovaltine, to be about the same price as a six pack of pediasure, but goes much much farther.
@TJ Isaacson wow…… That’s a good idea. I’ll look into that.