Grant: Highly selective diet and avoidance of foods
Grant, 17 years old, was referred to our feeding clinic with a highly selective diet and avoidance of foods which was impacting upon his overall health and wellbeing.
Background
Grant is on the Autistic Spectrum Continuum, has asthma plus sensory processing difficulties and significant motor skill difficulties, which was affecting his ability to complete daily living tasks independently. His Mum was extremely concerned about the long term risks to his health including developing diabetes.
He was very anxious around mealtimes and food which resulted in him eating all of his meals in his bedroom, away from his family and restricting the family’s choice of leisure activities.
Creating a programme
Grant’s feeding therapy programme included reducing carbohydrates and sugar content within his diet, alongside increasing the range of foods he would eat. We helped develop his skills in both independence and self-help, increasing his understanding of how his sensory processing difficulties were affecting his eating and drinking, therefore helping him manage them.
Following an introduction into the two strands of the SOS program, “family meals” and “food school”, Grant also agreed to increase his activity levels in small steps and take part in food preparation sessions at the clinic and in between sessions.
Due to his age, Grant learnt how to use a food map looking at the sensory properties of different foods to help him decide how he could interact with each new food and plot his progress on the 32 steps.
The outcome
Grant attended 4 clinic based sessions and was discharged with the following outcomes:
Grant was walking every day between 30 – 60 mins
His range of foods-eaten had grown, to now include 10 new foods from each of the following food groups; starches, fruit/vegetables and proteins
His portion size of previously eaten foods has reduced from between 16-20 slices of bread per day, to typically 12 slices per day
He has engaged in daily food preparation tasks for his family, including cooking bacon and scrambled eggs and making his own breakfast and lunch meals
He is eating lunch and his evening meal downstairs with his family
“This programme has changed my life, like how to tolerate and eat new foods and exercise more.”
“The Feeding Trust were able to give us information in a different way, which was successful in getting new foods into Grant’s diet and we found the using the 32 steps to eating really helpful.”