Sensitivities to other people's food

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

My son is 7 and is diagnosed with AS and ADHD. We've been working hard the past

few weeks with RDI therapy and it's made him much more aware of facial

expressions and he's using his eyes to a greater extent than ever before. I

think as a consequence to this, he is also much more aware of what we are eating

next to him. He literally cringes when he catches a glimpse of my food (totally

normal food - bagels, cheese, sandwiches, etc). The sound of anyone chewing is

also making him upset.

I'm so nervous about school starting this week. How is he going to get through

lunch without looking very peculiar while he covers his eyes and cringes

throughout meal time!! He of course has his standard food that he will eat which

is very limited.

I should also mention that he's been on Adderral XR since January and maybe this

is an OCD reaction that has become much stronger. However, I hven't noticed the

visible cringing and whimpering until 2 weeks ago which seems to coincide with

the therapy he's been doing.

Has anyone gone through anything similar?

Thanks for reading this,

[Guest guest]

My son is really sensitive to other people's foods too. He was just crying and asking to eat in the other room when his brother was eating spaghettios yesterday. We've talked to him about it and told him to focus on something else, or just his own food. But he just gets grossed out by the smell and look of certain foods, and will gag if he sees it or smells it.

He does eat lunch at school alone most of the time, and I think that is part of the reason why. For your son, if you can have him put his lunchbox in front of him, kind of like a blocker so he can't see people's food across from him, maybe it would help. And if you mention it to the teacher, or even send a note to the lunch ladies so they are aware and would let him move or sit in a "safe" area for him.

Let me know what happens.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suzanne

suzmarkwood@...

From: pmbnewton <pmbnewton@...>Subject: ( ) Sensitivities to other people's food Date: Saturday, September 5, 2009, 7:30 AM

Hi all,My son is 7 and is diagnosed with AS and ADHD. We've been working hard the past few weeks with RDI therapy and it's made him much more aware of facial expressions and he's using his eyes to a greater extent than ever before. I think as a consequence to this, he is also much more aware of what we are eating next to him. He literally cringes when he catches a glimpse of my food (totally normal food - bagels, cheese, sandwiches, etc). The sound of anyone chewing is also making him upset. I'm so nervous about school starting this week. How is he going to get through lunch without looking very peculiar while he covers his eyes and cringes throughout meal time!! He of course has his standard food that he will eat which is very limited. I should also mention that he's been on Adderral XR since January and maybe this is an OCD reaction that has become much stronger. However, I hven't noticed the visible cringing and whimpering

until 2 weeks ago which seems to coincide with the therapy he's been doing. Has anyone gone through anything similar? Thanks for reading this,

[Guest guest]

My son eats lunch in the learning support room, and this is in his IEP. Eating in the school lunch room is overwhelming for neurotypicals- the noise, crowding, smells. For my son, it's unbearable.

If you have get this arrangement, then you can work on his tolerance for the sight/smell of other people's foods at home. And you free him from one more difficult situation at school. Reggi Levinreggi@...

From: pmbnewton <pmbnewton@...> Sent: Saturday, September 5, 2009 10:30:00 AMSubject: ( ) Sensitivities to other people's food

Hi all,My son is 7 and is diagnosed with AS and ADHD. We've been working hard the past few weeks with RDI therapy and it's made him much more aware of facial expressions and he's using his eyes to a greater extent than ever before. I think as a consequence to this, he is also much more aware of what we are eating next to him. He literally cringes when he catches a glimpse of my food (totally normal food - bagels, cheese, sandwiches, etc). The sound of anyone chewing is also making him upset. I'm so nervous about school starting this week. How is he going to get through lunch without looking very peculiar while he covers his eyes and cringes throughout meal time!! He of course has his standard food that he will eat which is very limited. I should also mention that he's been on Adderral XR since January and maybe this is an OCD reaction that has become much stronger. However, I hven't noticed the visible cringing and whimpering

until 2 weeks ago which seems to coincide with the therapy he's been doing. Has anyone gone through anything similar? Thanks for reading this,