my adult son with autism (and severe sensory issue with both eating and clothing) ate a very, very limitied diet until 6 but we continued to work on food issues and by 9 he started accepting more foods and textures. Now as a young adult he eats a good variety of foods and textures. It just took a lot of time and trial and error to find things he would accept so don't give up hope.

Have you tried any of the Vitalicious Vitatops? My son really likes the deep chocolate muffin tops. They are in the frozen foods section and have 9 grams of fiber and 4 grams of protein. Pretty good and filling for breakfast. And they are ready in less than a minute (individually frozen).

I am the poster pushing cooking at home and we did do benihana. big but - feed your kid first because it is just about showing your kid that cooking is FUN. Another tip - tell your kiddo they can sneak tastes when you are not looking (except uncooked egg or meat/fish). The concept of sneaky tastes makes it fun for my boy. and yes - if a parent makes cooking tense - they either need to learn to change behavior or the other "non-cooking" parent needs to take the lead. If being in the kitchen and learning about food results in tension and reprimands the WRONG message is being sent. So much about feeding is non-verbal.

best of luck.

I have a very picky eater and we don't yet know if she has oral sensitivities/texture issues but I would guess yes. We are pursuing outside help.

She, too, will not eat meat or even try it. She will eat tofu, however, and lentils and hummus. This is not necessarily directed at OP but at everyone: Anyone try Benihana? They put on a bit of a show with the food and it's been years but I seem to remember that they grill steak or chicken (or veggies) and chop it into little bits, flipping it in the air, etc.

That could be fun. I think I am going to take DD and worst case scenario is she watches me eat. Any thoughts on this?

OP again

It's not that I don't like cooking I'm just not very skilled. My husband does almost all of the cooking, but he lacks patience. DH would agree with wholeheartly on this. DH is very patient about other things just not when is comes to his kichten. I even find it tense to cook with him.

So it has to be me been thinking of making cooking a weekly activity, I just haven't made as much of priority. I really like the idea of him helping me pick out the receipe.

I'm very happy to hear post 5 years old means that introducing we new foods if over and done with.


Thanks you for your suggestions Ill give it a try.

dear op - i was also very worried about crossing the 5 year threshold without having more food in the diet. but guess what? he continues to make progress. I really really strongly recommend all sort of cooking and baking with your kid. And let your kid be part of the choice process. Once a week, take him shopping and he gets to pick something to make that is different from his comfort foods. But here is the tough part - you seem to not like cooking. You have to figure out a way to make it FUN - for you and your kid. Call it an experiment, get fun aprons, don't worry about mess..... And it is ok if no one likes the food - that is also a good message. Sometimes things turn out great and sometimes not and no one gets upset because you had fun. Think of it as the cheapest therapy around!!

Making those positive associations with cooking and family will pay off. It does not matter what you cook - whether it is "healthy" or not. The goal is just to increase his comfort level with a host of food products in terms of sights, smells uncooked and smells cooked.

If you child likes rice, one thing that can work, is to get a burrito with very bland shredded chicken mixed in. Even if he just picks out the rice - he gets the flavor of the chicken.

Have you tried some of the veggie products?