He'll eat when he's hungry!

Unfortunately, being the mom of anyone with special needs means there are some big food issues!  There are quite a few foods that my little flapper just won't touch. He's an extremely picky eater, and he is very outspoken about it.  His favorite food right now is chicky and fren fries!  Whether from home or McDonald's.  But it varies from week to week.  Like last week it was pizza rolls,  last month it was corndogs!  He won't eat soups, salads and normally won't eat bread (but he ate a whole king Hawaiian roll last night :-D)! He won't touch vegetables except for cucumbers!  I can usually get him to eat anything made with hamburger meat.  He likes taco meat (not the shell, or tortillas), spaghetti, lasagna, and meatloaf.  With all of his food aversions I cant tell you how many times I've heard " oh he'll eat if he's hungry" saying that if I don't give him his choice of foods he will eventually eat what's made!
Ummm... No. No he won't!  I know because before I found out he was ASD I tried everything to get him to eat other foods!  I remember when he was 2-3 years old he was scared of jello!  Like crying scared!   Now he likes jello.  The first time he dipped his chip in salsa I damn near cried!  Take a victory when you can!! Pick your battles wisely.. Continue to give them more choices and maybe.. just maybe one day he will surprise you and pick a new food!  Unfortunately ASD kids will not change their eating habits on your time! It's something they have to do on their own time. I still offer my son different foods but I know he will rarely try it.  But not giving him foods that he likes because I want him to eat something else will just cause him to starve himself!  He will not eat on your time!  But, given time I have high hopes that he will try more foods.  Until then... we will stick with what works!
~A.W.M

Little flapper 101

Hello all you awesome people!  Lets see...  on the wonderful day that my little flapper was born into this crazy world I knew something was different!  It wasnt the oh something is wrong with him or he has a mental disability different.. he just wasnt like my first son! And I know that siblings are nothing alike but I was young and figured there would be some differences but not like this. Ashton Phoenix Garcia was born October 21st 2007 weighing 7lbs 14oz 20 1/2 in long! He was perfect. The first thing I learned about Ashton was, he really did not like sounds! Not just loud noisy sounds but quiet ones too..  The slightest noise would have him screaming for hours! He cried endlessly and it was heartbreaking because there was really nothing I could do to comfort him! Mainly because of the second thing I noticed that was different about him.  He didn't like to be touched! He didn't like to be touched on his belly, his head, or his hands! Talk about feeling like a failure as a mom!  But slowly, I learned what Ashton did like! He enjoyed very low humming, and when I'd rub his tiny little feet! There were days I went with no sleep because not only did Ashton have colic, he also had acid reflux and would throw up constantly!! My biggest fear was of him choking on his spit up and me not hearing him even though he slept in a tilted bassinet right by my bed! So add sleep deprivation to the list of differences  between my oldest son and Ashton!  It wasn't always hard in the beginning though! One thing that my little flapper loved to do was laugh! He would find something he liked and stay glued for hours and laugh or giggle or bounce around!  For all you first time parents out there the vibrating bouncer was a huge hit! He would bounce like crazy in that thing! Our first indication that Ashton was truly different was his constant flapping!  He would jump up and down and flap his hands and arms all day! I blew it off! He's just being silly I thought.  But the real issue was Ashton wouldn't talk! He would jibber jabber and mumble but by the age of 2 he could speak a total of maybe 5 words! For those who don't know toddlers at that age should have a vocabulary of at least 50-75 words minimum!! Thus started our journey into speech therapy!  We were guided to the wonderful people at ECI and he was assigned to the most amazing speech therapist ever! Joan (jo jo) really helped bring Ashton out of his shell. He was terrified of people in general, even people that he knew and saw on a daily basis!  Jo jo was the first outsider he ever let touch him and hold him! It was beautiful and heartwarming!  But sadly the ECI cut off age is 3 so we were referred to the school district for further help! Scared doesn't even begin to cover the feelings of having a child with special needs! But I had to come to accept that I had one! But God smiled down on us and sent us an angel in the form of a teacher! Mrs. Wilson was Ashtons pre-k teacher in the colts program for 2 1/2 years! She is a true hero and miracle worker! She would tell you no, but there's no denying it! My sweet little boy went from not speaking and being terrified of kids, and adults especially men, throwing tantrums 5-10 times a day to making friends,  to speaking actual words we could understand and speaking 2-3 clear word sentences by the time he was 5, and having maybe 2-3 meltdowns a week! Now my little flapper is almost 7 and he is an absolute joy! He still has his bad days but with the help of Mrs. Wilson and friends I learned how to be the mom of this special little boy!  It's been a crazy ride so far but the future is so much brighter than I ever imagined 6 years ago!
Thanks for helping us become a happy, loving family! You all know who you are!
~Autism warrior mom~