Its SPD, its real....don't let it spoil dinner time....

by carebear
(USA)


Find the flavors and textures that your child with SPD can tolerate or likes. Just accept it and move forward so that life can become more pleasant at the dinner table.




For three years I had to mash the food up for my son because he often gagged or couldn't swallow it. Toast was difficult, anything crunchy or hard like a crouton....meat was and still is difficult for him. It seems as though his mouth doesn't have the muscle power like we do to spend all that time chewing up the food. When he started speech therapy in nursery school, they pointed out to me that he may have SPD and that it was affecting his ability to move his tongue and mouth muscles around in a way to form words to speak.... He often gives up trying.

Well long story short. He enjoys foods that are soft and bundled up together so that he can "pick them up and eat them". When food spills out, he cries. He doesn't like using forks and spoons either. But since nursery school and being around other kids like him, his appetite improved and also his ability to hold the utensils and stay clean at the dinner-table.

Our son likes soft foods and things he can slosh around in his mouth and enjoy tasting the "flavor country". So, if I want him to keep up his weight and stay healthy.... I cut the meat and vegetables very finely (like until they are invisible) and wrap them up in a burrito. That's just the way it is. I'm sure that someday when he grows up he'll just be a burrito eatin' man someday! Ha, that's funny. Thanks for letting me write this blogg. It helps me to put my thoughts together and feel like I'm connecting to people out there in the world.



Comments for Its SPD, its real....don't let it spoil dinner time....

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Nov 10, 2010
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Well said
by: Anonymous

Thank you so much for your insight! I am struggling with an 8 year old who still has some issues with being picky (though she has definitely improved). Today she gagged on a carrot, and I was so mad and frustrated! "She is too old to behave this way," I thought. I ran to the internet looking for suggestions. I found your comments to be particularly helpful today! As strange as it sounds, I forgot that she had been diagnosed with SPD. I forget about her speech issues, and minimize her food difficulties since she finally conquered her speech in first grade, and she will eat a slightly bigger repertoire now. It's so easy to be impatient and think "Why can't she just tough this through and just eat it!" Reading the symptoms you are facing unlocks memories of how much she has improved, and helps me continue to be understanding rather than losing my kindness. I just need to be patient and enlist her help in identifying foods she might be willing to try.

Jan 04, 2010
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great idea!
by: mo2g

Thanks for the idea of cutting everything very finely. I think my 7yo's OT has been rather hard on us lately. Making her try certain foods is just becoming a chore and making everyone miserable. She supposedly doesn't have a problem w/ chewing/swallowing but maybe cutting things up smaller will change the taste and texture and make foods more tolerable. Last week she mostly ate Pop-Tarts and mashed potatoes. What do you tell the OT? I'm going to try this tomorrow at dinner. Thanks.

Dec 30, 2009
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food problem
by: Anonymous

My experience of the children about food is similar. They eat very little, and refuse to try other food. If you know treatment for this problem please inform me.

Dec 29, 2009
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agree
by: Anonymous

Way to go! My son also has issues with food so we just try to make the best of it. That's all you can do. Try to help them eat somewhat nutritiously and still be something they will eat!

Dec 29, 2009
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Thank you!
by: Anonymous

Thank you for sharing. I think that you have the right attitude. When I stopped trying to change my daughter with Asperger, that's exactly when she started doing better.

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