Short Vent: The new DCPS lunch menu - not for my SPD kid

[Anonymous]

If a child can be overly sensitive to texture, why can't he be overly sensitive to taste as well? (or under sensitive for that matter?)

I know mine is overly sensitive. He's never been diagnosed with SPD, but he is super sensitive to taste. He can tell several days befrore I ma if a food is nearing its "best by date" (and refuses the food -- it smells off to him before it smells off to anyone else in the family.

He has a revulsion for the taste of onions. It doesn't matter if I puree them or sneak them in a meal so he doesn't know they are there -- just a few slices, and the food tastes off to him.

Same with eggs -- unless there is something sweet or chocolate-y to cover up the taste (like chocolate cake).

[Anonymous]

OP, I understand you're probably very stressed from dealing with these food issues for so long, but I think you're being overly sensitive. My DS doesn't have food sensory issues, and the way he eats would be very similar to your child - no milk (he is not a big milk drinker), hot dogs w/o the bun, no veggies. And because he eats like this out of personal preference rather than a sensory issue, I'm not the least concerned about what his school friends think of how he eats. We pack his lunch daily so we know that he's getting much healthier foods than what is served at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a child with SPD issues that come and go, or ebb and flow. I do not believe that sensory issues should take the blame because a child will drink chocolate, but not plain, milk. Really?

I do not believe sensory issues are at fault when a child will eat an apple but not celery, or a strawberry but not broccoli. Sensory processing disorder does not create a preference for hot dogs. Sensory processing does not make a child love chicken and tomato sauce and hate chicken and teriyaki sauce.

Sounds like we have a child who likes sugary sweet chocolate milk, salty hot dogs and salty pizza. If this is "sensory processing disorder," then don't 75% of kids have this "disorder"?

I know no one is every supposed to say anything negative on the Special Needs Forum, ever, and you're supposed to accept everything that is ever said here, always. I'm sorry.

The texture of apple is nothing like the texture of celery, nor is a strawberry anything like broccoli. There are significant differences between these textures, even between tomato and teriyaki sauces. There are also signficant differences in smells and how they feel in your mouth when you combine them. If you don't understand this then you don't understand the sensory nature of eating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP: OP here: you don't have to accept it, but it is my reality. DS did not want table food until almost 14 months, probably because he had problems chewing effectively.

DS did not drink milk ever. He gagged and spit it out, I EBFed for a year and then moved to formula - until age 5. Tried milk repeatedly. Chocolate milk was the last resort. Even now, he still will not drink milk readily and I feel lucky if I get 8 oz of chocolate milk into him in a day. He grits his teeth and tries not to drink it when I am not looking and hides the glass in the refrigerator. Having it at school means he will try to finish it in front of other kids to appear "normal." I have tried a number of other milks/flavors - no go. He will take yogurt, but not with fruit - so it is very texture driven.

You would think if he likes hot dogs, he'd eat bologna. Nope.

He will eat pizza, but not bread for the most part. You are probably right in that the salty, tomato taste works to overcome the aversion to the texture of bread in his mouth. That and not wanting to appear strange at birthday parties. Last year, he decided to try the roll with the hot dog, but the moment he gags, it is just the hot dog.

Smell is important also - he cannot tolerate the smell of peas, broccoli, green beans. Spinach is slimy to him. He eats oranges by a putting the piece in his mouth, chewing it until dry and then spitting out the remaining tough parts. He eats corn the same way. Until last year, apples and pears had to be peeled, but now he spits out the skin. I could go on, but don't want to waste folks time.

For many years, DS was at 10th percentile of weight. When age 3 we tried not to feed him (before we knew about SPD) for 3 days. His pre-school teachers told us that he would get hungry enough to eat. He didn't - just drank formula.

Your child clearly does not have the extreme SPD mine has. Food was only one of his symptoms.. he was just saying to me the other day that a few kids have wondered why he doesn't eat "normal" lunch food, like sandwiches. Having to buy hot lunch is one more socially acceptable thing to do. But to close the loop, many of these lunches don't work for him.

While I am not the SPD person in our house (my DD is), I HATE milk. The texture, the smell, the color. It's a bodily fluid! Of a COW! Makes me sick and always has. If he eats yogurt, I'd forget about the milk. Just let that be one thing you don't have to worry over.

[Anonymous]

OP, you just need to pack his lunch and move on.

[Anonymous]

I am sympathetic as my son shares a lot of these traits (he literally will throw up when I "force" him to try a food that is of a texture which he can't handle), but I have to agree that many kids eat similarly, albeit perhaps for other reasons (they are picky eaters, they are used to processed foods, etc.). To me the bottom line is that it's just not that big a deal to pack lunch each day if your goal is to ensure that your child eats a relatively healthy lunch. If your goal is to help him appear "normal" and that's why you want him to be able to buy lunch, I'm not saying I'm not sympathetic to that, but personally I would still pack his lunch and try to sneak in something that "normalizes" him (just b/c DCPS changed their lunches to healthier offerings, which I applaud, it doesn't mean you can't pack a treat for your child!). Plenty of kids bring water bottles at lunch, and you can give him chocolate milk once he gets home from school. My son brings the exact. same. lunch. every day - it frustrates me but I really don't think anyone pays attention. And when I think back, I ate one of two lunches every day from K through high school!

[Anonymous]

So, distilling this post down to its essence, "SPD" causes children to need:

chocolate milk
pizza
hot dogs
white flour pasta
ketchup
PBJ
?some fruit?


and "SPD" causes children to dislike:
spinach
vegetables
whole wheat pasta
regular milk

[Anonymous]

No, that is not what people are saying. You should return to General Parenting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, that is not what people are saying. You should return to General Parenting.

I was thinking the same thing. Good grief.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, distilling this post down to its essence, "SPD" causes children to need:

chocolate milk
pizza
hot dogs
white flour pasta
ketchup
PBJ
?some fruit?


and "SPD" causes children to dislike:
spinach
vegetables
whole wheat pasta
regular milk

What an extremely unhelpful post. If you thought there was something wrong with what OP is feeding her child, fine. You'll notice everyone else who did managed to do so without resorting to snark.

[Anonymous]

New poster here: I'm genuinely confused. The diet that the OP's son prefers sounds an awful lot like my 6yo's food preferences. It never occured to me to categorize this kind of picky eating / junk food craving as a special need. It sort of blows my mind that the OP is complaining about a healthier menu in the schools because it doesn't suit her child's personal preferences. And why is it so insulting for a PP to simply suggest that she pack his lunch? That's what I do, same thing every day. No big deal (and the plus is that it's easy to plan and shop for!)

I'm not trying to be unsympathetic here. I get what a hassle it can be when your kid won't eat most of what you cook. But I don't think it's terribly uncommon, and I don't see it as a big deal in the relative scheme of things.

[Anonymous]

OP here:

Those of you at the tail end of the discussion don't get it. This is not about picky eating/junk food. In fact, my son, despite his limited food preferences eats fairly healthy food. However, he liked some of the menu choices that were plain and plainly cooked. yes: some of the food is kinda junky - like hot dogs. Picky eaters are common: children who gag and vomit while eating are less common. A child bringing in tuna has caused my son to throw-up from the smell. He struggles with dairy and the dairy he will eat is is cheese on pizza and vanilla yogurt. He hates the smell, texture and taste of milk, but he will try to drink it if chocolate and with me standing over him. Not vanilla, not strawberry, so it is not about sugary flavors only. And yes, some is personal preference, but some is just trying to overcome aversions and doing what you need to do to try to get him to eat a wider variety of foods.

But a lot are reactions to food smell and texture that happens in the brain that he has no control over. Do you think he likes being the kid who in 5th grade, not some K kid, who isn't expanding what he eats? He wants to try - but it isn't easy or natural for him.

And yes - gee: of course, I have been making him lunch But it was nice for both of us to have a change of pace and eat something I cannot easily send from home and is hot. Twenty days of menus and he had one meal that he could eat at least 3 of the items.

However, for those commenting who may not be familar with the new menu, there is a wondeful effort to jazz up the dishes. Great, but how about a day in which the chicken is just plain baked without one of the 6 different sauces they are trying?

For those of you who have kids at 10th percentile of weight or less, I know you get it. This is about trying to have the broadest range of options to get calories into your child. Thanks - that's why I vented. For those of you who don't get it, well, you don't.

[Anonymous]

OP, I posted that I don't get it, and no I still don't. Kids vomiting if they're forced to eat veggies isn't all that uncommon in my world. You say intense food aversion, I say picky eater. Either way, I don't expect DCPS or anyone else to cater to the specific menu preferences of my child. I'm thrilled to see more healthy and more creative options, even if it doesn't change the likelihood that my 6yo will eat almost none of it.

Also you can send hot food from home - all you need is a thermos or one of the many types of insulted tupperware available at Target or the Container Store. Again, it's no big deal. No school system can individualize menus for the very diverse preferences of thousands of kids. You sound awfully entitled to complain about healthier menus.

[Anonymous]

And yes - gee: of course, I have been making him lunch But it was nice for both of us to have a change of pace and eat something I cannot easily send from home and is hot.

I understand that it is frustrating, but it seems like there is nothing that you can do about it. Unfortunately, the lunches are designed for the majority of kids without sensory issues, and when the food is made/shipped into a mass setting, there probably isn't much they can do to tailor it.

[Anonymous]

The longer food avoidance is tolerated and indulged over the years, the longer food avoidance persists. It becomes a way of life. Just ask my husband!

ewwww, gross! I can't eat _____, I can't eat ____, I am "allergic" to cooked carrots yet not raw carrots. I am allergic to rare meat. I can't eat ____, Ewwww, Yuck.

The list of foods this adult man "can't" eat is 6 pages long. It's horseshit and it makes going out to a restaurant, or going to a dinner party, or eating Thanksgiving dinner, or a eating a Passover dinner, totally embarrassing. How about the job interview lunch where he segregated the overcooked vegetables to the far side of the plate so they wouldn't touch his meat? That's right, that's what he did and the interviewer noticed and commented on his artistic plate style.

I'm sure he does have more powerful sensory reaction to some foods than John Doe does. So? So? You know exactly how he got to this place. His mom is still alive and somewhat near and she is still making his mashed potatoes "plain" on Thanksgiving so he doesn't have to eat the ones with chives in them like the other 25 of us.