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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Visitors from General Parenting always stand out, don't they? Sort of like tourists in DC standing on the left side of the escalators. At least I understand why tourists come to DC. I don't understand why 'tourists' from General Parenting come here when they're not open to learning and that the sentiment here is different. Even if they don't understand the difference between aversion and picky eater, there should be a level of awareness that SN kids are different. I don't know why they feel compelled to argue about things they really don't know anything about. If nothing else, they should know that the snarkiness and judgements found on General Parenting aren't welcome here.

[Anonymous]

Visitors from General Parenting always stand out, don't they? Sort of like tourists in DC standing on the left side of the escalators. At least I understand why tourists come to DC. I don't understand why 'tourists' from General Parenting come here when they're not open to learning and that the sentiment here is different. Even if they don't understand the difference between aversion and picky eater, there should be a level of awareness that SN kids are different. I don't know why they feel compelled to argue about things they really don't know anything about. I

I'm not the PP you quoted, but I do on occasion post things on the Special Needs forum that are not two-hundred-percent supportive and sweet and obsequious. I'm not a tourist from General Parenting, I have one child with some neuro differences which I guess make him Special. I read the SN forum because I'm a SN parent. I have known heartache and disappointment, believe me.

Sometimes, yes, even an SN parent needs to be told that they're going in the wrong direction and not doing their DC any favors with a particular plan of action.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Visitors from General Parenting always stand out, don't they? Sort of like tourists in DC standing on the left side of the escalators. At least I understand why tourists come to DC. I don't understand why 'tourists' from General Parenting come here when they're not open to learning and that the sentiment here is different. Even if they don't understand the difference between aversion and picky eater, there should be a level of awareness that SN kids are different. I don't know why they feel compelled to argue about things they really don't know anything about. I

I'm not the PP you quoted, but I do on occasion post things on the Special Needs forum that are not two-hundred-percent supportive and sweet and obsequious. I'm not a tourist from General Parenting, I have one child with some neuro differences which I guess make him Special. I read the SN forum because I'm a SN parent. I have known heartache and disappointment, believe me.

Sometimes, yes, even an SN parent needs to be told that they're going in the wrong direction and not doing their DC any favors with a particular plan of action.

It's obvious you don't have any experience with this particular special need. Whether you're a visitor or not, you simply don't know what you're talking about.
--Not the OP or the person who called you a tourist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Visitors from General Parenting always stand out, don't they? Sort of like tourists in DC standing on the left side of the escalators. At least I understand why tourists come to DC. I don't understand why 'tourists' from General Parenting come here when they're not open to learning and that the sentiment here is different. Even if they don't understand the difference between aversion and picky eater, there should be a level of awareness that SN kids are different. I don't know why they feel compelled to argue about things they really don't know anything about. I

I'm not the PP you quoted, but I do on occasion post things on the Special Needs forum that are not two-hundred-percent supportive and sweet and obsequious. I'm not a tourist from General Parenting, I have one child with some neuro differences which I guess make him Special. I read the SN forum because I'm a SN parent. I have known heartache and disappointment, believe me.

Sometimes, yes, even an SN parent needs to be told that they're going in the wrong direction and not doing their DC any favors with a particular plan of action.

You can have a difference of opinion without being dismissive, offensive and snarky. You can state your experience is different than someone's without disparaging another's experience. Those are the norms of this forum. If you don't yet understand the differences between them, you are still a tourist.

The PP that doesn't get food aversions is saying the OP's DC's food challenges are less severe than OP states, are easily accomodated and OP is doing her child a disservice by accomodating her DC. It's not just presumptuous, it reveals her ignorance of the issue and inability see beyond her own experience. If she had stopped there, it wouldn't have been so bad but to say that OP sounds "entitled" was uncalled for and, again, reveals her to be a tourist.

[Anonymous]

My goodness, aren't we supposed to be helping each other...WTF??? Who cares 'from which' forum you came?

[Anonymous]

So you find it helpful if someone who does not have a SN child tells you that you are doing it all wrong? One of the reasons I like this forum is because I don't have to "make a case" for my SN kids. The last thing most of us need is to not be taken seriously or to be ridiculed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So you find it helpful if someone who does not have a SN child tells you that you are doing it all wrong? One of the reasons I like this forum is because I don't have to "make a case" for my SN kids. The last thing most of us need is to not be taken seriously or to be ridiculed.

....or told that lack of discipline is our kid's problem.

If advice from the parent of a 'normal' kid would be helpful, I wouldn't be posting in SN.

[Anonymous]

You know, as the mom of a kid with learning disabilities and anxiety, I struggle with this all the time.

How much of what my DD does is LD related and how much is just developmentally what a kid her age does? Where do I draw the line? At what point and for what things do I say, this is how the world is and you need to live in it?

I don't mean to sound heartless -- I will do anything I need to do to get DD the help she needs and to support her.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes, yes, even an SN parent needs to be told that they're going in the wrong direction and not doing their DC any favors with a particular plan of action.

It's obvious you don't have any experience with this particular special need. Whether you're a visitor or not, you simply don't know what you're talking about.
--Not the OP or the person who called you a tourist.

Actually I do. It's what a lot of OTs would call sensory defensive. My kid's a textbook case. I just know that throwing up my hands and announcing that the antidote is pizza, hot dogs and chocolate milk is, um, not medical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Sometimes, yes, even an SN parent needs to be told that they're going in the wrong direction and not doing their DC any favors with a particular plan of action.

It's obvious you don't have any experience with this particular special need. Whether you're a visitor or not, you simply don't know what you're talking about.
--Not the OP or the person who called you a tourist.

Actually I do. It's what a lot of OTs would call sensory defensive. My kid's a textbook case. I just know that throwing up my hands and announcing that the antidote is pizza, hot dogs and chocolate milk is, um, not medical.

No one said that it was the antidote and no one said that they were giving up. Besides, the OP didn't start this thread looking for a fix. She was happy that there were healthy choices, she was just wishing those choices were more palatable to her son and that she didn't have to make lunch all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Actually I do. It's what a lot of OTs would call sensory defensive. My kid's a textbook case. I just know that throwing up my hands and announcing that the antidote is pizza, hot dogs and chocolate milk is, um, not medical.

I don't know what you mean by "textbook case" and "not medical" but our developmental pediatrician told us not to worry about trying to push the food issue with our DC because we're working on so many other challenges. But, as a PP noted, that's not what this thread is about. Feel free to start your own thread.

[Anonymous]

And now for a slightly different take on this same problem, a news story on ABC's Nightline:

http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/extremely-picky-eaters-struggle-fear-foods/story?id=11721435

Some people fear foods, others have texture/taste problems. However, Duke University is now studying this and training people to increase the number of things they will eat. Good for the little girl who wanted to go and good to know there is a resource out there for parents.