For Ali it seems the problem with eating is:
1. Pickiness and sensory issues with certain foods
2. So hyper/hard to sit still
3. Does not seem to feel hunger like most people will/she does not seem to realize she needs to eat
4. Maybe just not liking to eat...?
We can go to a restaurant and she is fine (half the time) if she has something to do like color and small toys. She can stay at the table...she is often in her own world...but she can be at a table for a 1/2 hour but even with food she likes in front of her she will not eat unless reminded or fed. Sometimes when she seems to realize she is hungry she asks me if I will feed her and I say she can feed herself, she says it is hard...but when I ask why is it hard she gets mad and refuses to eat. I don't know...
Your child sounds just like the problems we were having with my 4 yr old...last summer, I got so concerned, he looked so pale and thin...it turned out he had yeast and needed enzymes to get the desire to eat!! Food has never been a pull for him to work like out ASD kids...we tested him at Great Plains Lab and it was yeast and high oxalate issues...now he loves to eat, will ask to eat frequently...In the past, I always had to treat him like an infant and schedule his feedings throughout the day...he has always done well at restaurants too!!!Yes, Ali is better than she was.....OR my mom & I are working harder to make sure she eats enough often enough...but when she went for her 3 year old check up last year the Dr. was concerned cause Ali was below the 5th percentile for weight.Snoopy....I agree...
I am working on more complex self help skills right now but sitting at the table is a HUGE life skill that needs to be learned. Adam still occasionally will try and get up from the table. Usually this only happens if the television is on during dinner because we have a living room/dining room combo and he can still see the tv from the table but he likes to get closer when it's on.
So I usually try and make sure there are no distractions and that we are engaging him quite a bit at the table so that he seems to keep his mind on the food and table versus other activities. You could try making a fun activity out of it. Any level of excitement used for the activity might help reign him in. Or when he gets up you can say something like...."OK your done? Mommy is going to put your plate up now. We only get up from the table when we are done." The visual of his plate being taken away alone might clue him in and he may just start to comply. Hopfully. I would talk to an OT if he is in therapy....if not then the school. I'm sure others have more suggestions.
So in short.. (sort of) YES...I would start to try and get him to sit for the whole meal. It's time.
Karrie
Food allergies could be a cause, too. I thought of rashes, but symptons are hidden. My ds is allergic to eggs, corn, rice, soy, and fish, but not milk and wheat. He has hard time gaining weight, but wants to eat all the time. Just found this out last week, and the doc said improvement may take a month, but the skin around his fingernails was always red and peeling and now is looking MUCH better. Maybe that was a symptom of food allergy. Also he is hyper and I used to use a booster seat with high arms to help him stay in his chair. Now it's safer to let him loose or he will push his chair backwards till it falls. Ali just turned 4 and we have major food issues. She never sits to eat and often I have to feed her. She can eat on her own, refuses to use any silverwear though and is picky about the food she eats. The problem is she does not sit still and left on her own, would not eat more than several bites. It takes her over an hour to eat each meal. She hates most meat and left on her own she would def. only eat veggies. Anyway, eating is def. a big issue for Ali.Sarah could never sit with us..she liked finger foods on the coffee table so that she could take a bite and run off and then come back...it was really hard to get her to sit at table..we give her the chair with arms and push in all the way in~traps her:) She still eats a different menu than us..unless it fast food/pizza or spaghetti w/o sauce:) She didnt use utensils for a long time because the only foods she ate were finger ones...it gets better over time. thank you shelley you made my day. i hop gets better.It does get better, but with a problem that severe - I think you should start working on it immediately. Like fred said, it might need to be broken down into sub-steps.
My ds did this when he was a toddler - but we were very consistent about, "Okay, you are all done now." But, like someone else said - you can do that with a first child (mine was) but with a second or third - it is difficult! Or, if you have younger children as well. Mine was sitting in a chair well by the time his sis was born. But, it took a LOT of work! And I would imagine since your son is 5 that it will take a lot more because he's got many more years of being in that habit!
I too would get the advice and support from therapists. He could choke while running and eating - that is dangerous and you should work on stopping it now. In addition, I would imagine you can't ever go out to eat anywhere as that would be a nightmare! And eating politely in public is a good skill to have - especially when he goes to school! I'm assuming he's already been to school some - is he in an ECSE class? What is his level of functioning? Is he going to kindergarten this year?
my son will eat himeself but i have to do hours of clean up after hime. he will run with food every where. he never sitt for whole meale. he will get up run and come back for another bite. i dont know if i have to force him on that or not his 5.
I think this is something that you should work on. Seek advice from the therapists that are workign with him if you need help with getting him to comply with basic table manners and proper use of utensils. Keep in mind that these are compound skills and it might be neccessary to break them down into their sub-skills and work on each independently. Many ASD kids are not motivated to try things on their own like typical kids, so I do think it is a good idea to actively encourage these sorts of self help skills to avoid additional delays. You can actually find milestone charts that show these types of self-help milestones and the age range when they are typically required. You might inquire about such a chart with your therapists. You could also get some of these self help skills encoded in your son's IEP so that they could be worked on at school. I believe these sorts of skills would fall under occupational therapy, so if you don't get OT, you might request some occupational goals on your IEP.I think this thread is more about sitting at the table to eat as opposed to being picky or grazing.
In order to function in society (unless you plan on home-schooling and never going out to dinner, even to a family function/wedding), it is a good idea to have your child learn SOME table manners. Like for instance, we sit at the table to eat. To me, letting your child run around while eating is dangerous. They could choke if they fell down and had something in their mouth. I have seen this happen to an NT child - thankfully the Heimlich worked.
I think around age 4, grazing is still considered okay - as long as they are getting some healthy foods in there. By grazing, I mean eating small meals (at the table) several times a day. Some people think even adults should do that!
Anyway, this is just my opinion and I wish tzoya was around to comment... She usually is in favor of teaching kids independent skills but she also often talks about not picking battles. This one could kind of fall in between I would think!
Anna1109: