Twenty years of not knowing

by Franka
(the Netherlands)

After watching Dr. Phil (about eating disorders)I decided to search on the internet for information about my son's problem. I haven't done this for a while because I never was able to find what I was looking for. Now I did: he has SPD!!!

Koen (almost 20) is a very picky eater ever since he was not even two years old. We tried everything, nothing helped. At first we were told it was a power struggle, later on that he would outgrow this but nothing ever changed over the years. When he was almost 16 years old Koen was diagnosed with Asperger and/or PDD-NOS. I felt that his eating problem had probably to do with that, but in the Netherlands there seemed to be no knowledge about that. It took years for me to learn that indeed some people with autism suffered from these kind of problems. Now it has a name: SPD. I am going to read all about it now and hope to find help, so Koen can overcome this problem.

Because of his very picky eating, Koen got very week. As he was 15 years old he was not able to go to school on his bike anymore(only 10 to 15 minutes from our home). He simply did not have the strength. Doctors couldn't find what was wrong. As Koen started hyperventilating as I drove him to school time and time again, it seemed to be a psychological problem. He stayed home for 6 weeks, very depressed, not knowing what was wrong with him and worried about everything he was missing at school. We were so lucky to find a therapist that diagnosed Koen with autism after a few sessions. He also told us that Koen suffered from all kinds of deficits (vitamins, minerals, zinc etc.) due to his diet. That got solved over the years with all kinds of supplements, but this therapist did not know what to do about the eating problem. He tried to deal with it as if it was a phobia, but found out very soon that this was something quiet different.

Koen is doing well now. He goes to a special school for autistic children, feels good about himself and is not really bothered with having autism (that's just me and I wouldn't want to be any different). But eating the way he does is not healthy obviously and is something that he would like to address. I told him about this website and he is very interested to learn more about SPD. So is my husband.

Maybe for Koen 2009 is the year to start eating better and become a stronger and healthier person. That would be great!!!

Franka
from the Netherlands