The taste buds on our tongues are divided into four groups: sweet, sour, bitter or salty. Sometimes an autistic child may only eat foods from one of these categories. In other cases, most foods may be tolerable but only with liberal doses of a particular sauce or condiment covering everything. My Aspie son use to love ketchup on everything from the fries right down to green beans and this assured me as long as I had ketchup on hand he would use the ketchup as a dip for everything. His food tendencies are changing all the time and currently he is on a hot dog run. If I allowed him to eat hot dogs for breakfast lunch and dinner he would be extremely satisfied.
Some children will only eat foods of a certain color, or food can only be eaten if it is from a favorite container or plate. When there are so many possible 'invisible' causes, a child's refusal to eat can easily be interpreted as willful misbehavior. You need to play the role of 'behavior detective' to find the precise causes of negative reactions to new food and this is where the food journal comes in. The first step is to clearly document what, when, where and how your child will and won't eat certain foods. Be aware of sensory issues such as textures, heat, cold, smell and color. Often a pattern can emerge with time that helps to determine the issues involved.
When texture is a known issue, try to introduce new foods in a similar way at first. For example, a new vegetable can be turned into a puree if chunky textures aren't liked, or traditionally hot food can be served at room temperature.
Thanks for your question.
