Autism and FOOD issues: my experience 

Textures of food has always been a huge sensory issue for me.

Even worse than "ooh, she's actually trying a potato" is "oh, so now you're suddenly okay with eating a potato, huh?" As if you've been lying or just being a baby for no reason, and almost angry at you and sarcastic.

Oh man I have so many sensory issues with foods. Especially due to textures and smells. All my life I've been called a picky eater, but I honestly hate that term because it's not like I'm choosing to only be able to eat certain foods, I just physically cannot eat them. My parents used to think I would eat if I was hungry, as usual, but I literally would starve instead of eating those foods.

When I was a girl, my dad used to yell at me for dissecting my meat. The only times I was forced to eat something I didn't like, I ended up vomiting as soon as I managed to choke it down. As an adult, I go through food phases. Stir-fry phase. Pasta bake phase. etc and I make up my own recipes.

I am literally crying, I have never heard of someone else express my issues with food in a way that feels so close to what I feel.

I am 40 and I have just discovered your videos. It's like that 'penny drop' moment where everything now makes complete sense! I have only ever thought about autism, like you describe, the way that society portrays a typical non-verbal autistic child. So I never, in a million years, thought I would have it. I am completely bowled over by everything you are saying... I am answering yes to everything on your checklist, everything in this video about being an extremely fussy eater, especially as a child. So many of the traits brushed off as shyness, weirdness, me making light of my quirks with friends. So many issues like the sensory overload and struggle with easy tasks and managing day to day life, even though I put on a front like I am managing just fine to the outside world is something I have just lived with not realising that there is an explanation and even diagnosis for all these things. So many more traits than I could list on here, but I have made notes of. The more I watch of your videos, the more I am 100% certain that I am autistic. I would like to get a diagnosis so that I have 'evidence' for when I explain it to my family. If I just told them I was autistic, I could imagine getting eye rolls or weird looks. I think if they watched your videos they would understand. Maybe as a suggestion you could do one video that sums up the autism traits - one especially to show friends or family as I don't think they would have the patience to watch every single video like I am doing. Or point me to the video you think is best suited. Even some of the things you say in your videos that I thought were normal and I am finding out at age 40, this is not how everyone else thinks/feels/ does things. But equally I always knew there was something different about me and how my brain worked, but I never ever thought it would be autism. But also thankful (to you Sam for creating these videos) for giving me that 'penny drop' moment of realisation.

When I was a kid, my parents would tell me I could always spit it out if I didn’t like it, but I had to try it. it really helped, looking back. I hated the spitting but it eliminated a lot of food stress. Thank you for these videos.

Oh yes. I can tolerate almost any flavour, but textures do me in. No wet food like stew or soup. No touching textures. Nothing mealy. No greasy with dry. Everyone thought I was just a difficult brat. They didn't understand that it was incredibly stressful. I was actually frightened of certain foods.

There is NOTHING GOOD about a cafeteria setting 😳 Sensory torture😣

Yes I a low pressure environment would be a great idea. My parents would make me sit at the dinner table when I refused to finish my food and I'd just sit there crying. Yet no one knew I was autistic. My mum has photos of me crying over my food. I started hiding the food around the room and they obviously found it. They still tell the story to people and it still hurts my feelings.

With our kids 3 things helped: 1. You try it. If you dont like an ingredient, put it to the side. If you dont like the food as a whole, you can have something quick and easy from the kitchen. 2. Foods, where everyone can mix and Match their own ingredients. Like Pizza, Omelett, Ramen, bread ....they can then choose themselves and maybe try a little something before putting more of it in.

You have almost perfectly described my childhood, even down to Granny Smith apples!

My biggest nemesis has always been white creamy things - sour cream, alfredo sauce, etc. I just recently started eating bagels with cream cheese (never plain cream cheese, it has to be flavored, or have stuff in it, like vegetable or chive). It's such a small addition to my diet but it feels like such a big win.

"there's starving children in Africa". the show Letterkenny had a great rebuttal to that "yeah? name ten"

I'm neurotypical, but was also a very fussy eater. I could totally relate to the texture thing! Tomatoes were my arch enemy. I was also very similar in the timing of when my fussy eating got better, but for different reasons. In my case a more social and "happening"/busy eating environment seemed to actually help me eat as it distracted me from the pressure of having to finish my plate. What I 100% agree with is staying away from bargaining tactics, shaming tactics etc. Basically anything that treats fussy eaters as if they are just being difficult by choice. Fussy easters, especially as kids, KNOW they are being "difficult" and are "different" and feel like a burden even and it's already a source of anxiety. If they could, they would LOVE to be more "normal". So these tactics don't work and often just compound the issue. Now, all that talk just made me hungry. haha

Thank you. I have a very "picky" eater. My son is 12 and has always been anxious about new food. Which means anything outside of his chosen foods. I have always fought for him and his right to enjoy his eating experiences. We've recently begun homeschooling and we've implemented a bit of food experimentation. He enjoys it immensely. He has picked up a few more foods and added them to his chosen foods. We love to cook together and he loves learning about new foods and he knows that trying the food is not required. Sometimes he wants to and will ask and other times he is absolutely not interested in trying it. He knows I'm proud of him either way and that my only goal is to introduce him to food history, food science, new ingredients, interesting methods of cooking, different food cultures and etc. You have really helped me with this video. I do worry sometimes that I'm not doing right by him with allowing him total control of what goes into his mouth. That's not to say we have an abundance of snack foods for him, but we keep his familiar foods that he is comfortable with available for him at all times. Thank you for validating my choice to allow him this control and freedom from any food anxiety. I really appreciate it.

I think I drove my mom crazy as a child and I also prefered to stay hungry instead of eating annythink I find disgusting 😂

I grew up in a household where you ate what you were given or you starved (or when we were older we'd have to cook our own food). And so I developed this survival mechanism where "You just need to eat it until you like it, " and I did this with a lot of foods... And my husband thought that mentality was so weird, and not how people typically function, but wow does it ever make a lot of sense now...

When I was younger Granny Smith was the only apple I would eat. Now the only apple I eat is fuji. It's the only one that taste good to me.

My chidhood diet was pretty much the same. I hated the texture of onions, for example. I would eat so pourly that my mother used to cry because she thought i was gonna die. She took me to the doctor several times but she always told her that it was ok for my body to eat just what i wanted to eat! It's a miracle I'm alive, like you said about yourself. Sorry about my english, i'm from Uruguay in South America and here we speak spanish. Thank you for these videos. I'm 39 and starting to recognize myself as an autistic person because of yours and other autistic women videos. It's a really important thing you're doing

A friend sent me here. I could write a novella about my food issues as a child. This is one of the things that makes me most suspicious I have AS issues (next to specific niche interests and iffy social skills). There are entire categories of food I’ve never tried and refuse to try because of smell and temperature. Potato salad, ham salad, egg salad, tuna salad: they all smell bad , they smell “cold”, and I used to tell people “they sound like brains when you stir them”. Now , I’m sure I eat hot foods with the same sounds when you stir them, but I could *smell* when meat was cold and I would kind of clench up. There was zero awareness of autism back then in the American Midwest (I was born in the 70’s). So many family lunches at relatives’ houses meant I had to go hungry AND get attitude from people who just zombie-ishly accepted Wonder bread and lunch meat and mayonnaise. (In hindsight, I’m angry that we didn’t pack me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I could live on those back then.) Even now, when I go home to visit, I dread a food scenario I still can’t handle , even when I eat so much more than before. I went to my aunt’s funeral recently and brought my own peanut butter , crackers, and a Kind bar. When I stepped into that church basement the smell of my most hated foods hit me all at once (and writing about it is actually upsetting) , so I’m glad I could sit down and eat my own food. My cousin seemed very surprised when she asked about the food I brought and I told her how upsetting the smells of that food were. I was aware after talking to her that I basically implied that what she was eating was too repulsive for consumption, but whatever. I am very hard to embarrass. :) When I like a food, I tend to overeat it, and as an adult I notice that I make significant effort to get crispy stuff as crispy as possible, but I don’t recall if I was like that as a child. It was alllllll about smells and temperature. I had to be reasoned into trying salad as an adult, which led to me interrogating wait staff about whether the grilled chicken ok the salad was warm. Because if it gets cold I can smell that and it’s still upsetting. My threshold for what’s “warm enough” has lowered a little, but the revulsion over genuinely cold meat and attending odors is still there, and I’m approaching my late forties. Oh, and there was a whole separate thing about me getting upset about white milk and being absolutely obsessed with chocolate milk; the kind you make with a powdered mix. Kids at my school almost neeeeeeeever got chocolate milk. The parochial school kids did, the rumors said. I resented that. That was no fair. Anyway, thanks for this video. It resonates. :)

I TOTALLY RELATE TO WHAT U WERE SAYING ABOUT THE SMELLS OF FOOD & SYNESTHESIA! i have never thought of that contributing to my selective diet but it absolutely makes sense. im going to pay more attention to what comes up. thank you!

This just unearthed all of these memories I’d tried to repress. Crazy how much this describes me

I recently started looking into autism properly when someone suggested I could have autism, and finding out that food textures issues is a big autistic trait has felt like a huge weight off my shoulders. 30-odd years of people belittling my food choices, making out I was just being awkward, and now I realise there's a genuine explanation for it. I totally cannot eat food with too much fat or marbling, I hate sauces, I can only eat eggs if they're cooked a certain way, I can only eat potato if it's in chip form or something with a similar crispiness-to-fluffiness ratio. So many things. Now instead of trying to come up with reasonable excuses, I can just go "I'm autistic, fuck off."

I'm the weirdest fussy eater ever - became a vegetarian at age 5 since I hated the taste of all meat and fish. I also stopped eating milk and eggs since I hated their flavor. Eventually I became vegan since I hate all non vegan food and strangely I love fruit, vegetables, legumes and whole grains. I just find it easier to say that I'm vegan for the animals (partially true) than to say that I hate the taste of all animal products since these food issues tend to anger people.

My son has just been diagnosed, hes 4. Thank you so much for your videos, it helps me better understand my baby. X

I like to say I'm not picky--I'm particular. The freedom to cook for myself and try things on my own schedule has helped so much, but texture remains my biggest nemesis to getting enough to eat. My mom used to make chicken with sauce several nights a week, and growing up I would run each bite around my plate until I got off as much sauce as possible.

Omg it’s like I hear myself talking about food! I always struggled so much with eating and food and feel so stressed about even thinking about eating! I hate eating out at new restaurants! three months ago I was diagnosed with autism and suddenly everything made sense.. although my parents act like nothings wrong with me and act like I’m not autistic or they ignore it.. how did your parents deal with it when you just got the diagnosis?

This resonates so much. I'm in my late 20s now and I still can't eat fruit or vegetables because their texture (and in some cases their appearance) just repulses me. Though unlike yours, my mum has often tried to sneak stuff into my food that she knows I don't like and yeah, it's definitely made me distrust her cooking. Even to this day when I eat something she's cooked, I'm always suspicious. And generally speaking, processed food definitely tends to be a lot easier for me than unprocessed food.

You really hit the nail on the head with this video. I am traumatized by food. As a child I was forced to eat meat at dinner time. Even though I would cry my little eyes out. And every time I would get physically ill. My parents thought I was just faking it. I despise milk and was forced to eat cereal for breakfast. To this day I will not eat breakfast and you will not find milk in my fridge. I never ate school lunch either it was disguising to me the smell the presentation people talking over my tray I was afraid of spit and germs. And as an adult I am vegan and have been as soon as I could eat on my own. I love your videos.

I was, and still am, an extremely picky eater. Years ago I found out there’s a real name for this. Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, or ARFID. A huge portion of people diagnosed with it are also on the spectrum. From my understanding, it most often occurs in neurotypical people as a result of some kind of traumatic event in addition to a familial predisposition. I have several other family members who have - or as a child had - ARFID.

I dont usually comment on videos but this made me tear up. I was always told I was a weirdo, a fussy eater, not normal. And now I've found this video (not diagnosed as autistic...yet) and realising that this food thing is such a big thing with this. That lots of other people are going through, have gone through, this. This is an eye opener, I'm so glad I've found his video, thank you. I genuinely thought I was alone on every single thing in this video. Now I know I'm not I'm more hopeful it will get better, I am in the area of only eating one type of meal every single day and I don't know if I ever will get out of it, but you make me so hopeful that one day I will.

Thank you for this video! It was very wholesome for me to watch. I went through a traumatic childhood, and food was one particularly hard chapter. I couldn't stand the food I was given at home (and packed to take to school), but forced to eat it through physical abuse and psychological torture, daily. It also made me grow fat and very uncomfortable in my body, I had trouble breathing and moving as a result (let's not even get into how it impacted my already troubled social life at school) and I still have issues and ill digestive health from the stress on my organs and the psychological toll two decades later. This video made me own that experience in a whole new way, without raising up dark emotions. My eating needs were and are valid. It's part of who I am, not just part of my trauma, and that's okay. Thank you again 🤗

Who recorded this video of me talking about my food habits 😂 holy moly we're the same (ok, some differences but you get the point.)

Yes yes yes! I still have issues with gagging and I’m 23! I took honours specialization in nutrition and dietetics and the food labs were a HUGE struggle, being told I had to try food was not great :-( the program really helped me come around to experimenting with food. I totally feel you on the Nutella obsession, and the hatred of tomatoes! Don’t know if anyone else also loved cinnamon toast crunch but I loved that too! I

To this day I still gag at the smell of cooking mushrooms, even though I can eat them now, I still can't stand the smell. What you said about it being about the texture is so true!

Everything you say in your videos reminds me of myself. I’m 33 and a female. I have been misdiagnosed with bpd and bipolar disorder and now my doctor has said that I’m not those things but we have yet to speak about autism but I believe I may have her test me for it...if such a test exists. All of these food preferences are how I eat. I won’t eat meat off the bone the meat I do eat can’t have fat or gristle in it. My mother has forced me to sit at the table many nights until I ate things I didn’t like but i would sit there until bed time. Texture is everything for me. I’m realizing that I am very particular about everything. I have noticed that work and social gatherings exhaust me because I have to keep up my mask and my defenses.

Thanks Sam!! This explained so much of my childhood for me - I'll eat pretty much anything now, but as a kid I was a painfully picky eater and my parents still give me a hard time over this!

Thank you for sharing your experiences. I totally identify with what you're talking about. You're not alone. Really validating to hear someone else voice when I have silently experienced all these years.

I just found your videos and they are awesome! I just got diagnosed 10 months ago at age 42 and I’m definitely still processing through how all my “problematic” behaviors fit into this diagnosis and how much I want to share/advocate with others. You and I have many of the same struggles and you verbalize them perfectly. Thank you for putting yourself out there and helping me on my own journey.

Thanks, this is so much me, even in my 50th decade I still eat no fruits, never heard of any other person on spectrum with my issues with food textures. Going to share this with my mum so she can finally understand

So, my mom tried the whole "you'll sit there until you finish your plate" approach a little. Very stressful for everyone involved. Also, we had almost the exact food aversions... I'm 29 and now feel I'm approaching the "normal" level of food dislikes.

Your comments about the stress that you experienced at meal times was very helpful. I can tell that my autistic child gets very stressed at meals when the whole family is present. Thank you for being so open about your experiences. It is very helpful.

this made me very emotional because i honestly thought that no one else felt the same way about food. i'm 19 now and eating has always been something very difficult for me. sensory processing issues combined with environmental pressures really caused me to detest food and eating in general for a variety of reasons, and there have been many occasions where i've left social events or ended up having emotional breakdowns because of how distressing the thought of inconveniencing someone, embarrassing myself, or eating foreign, unfamiliar, or disliked foods makes me. eating new things, or just eating in general, still isn't easy by any stretch of the imagination, but i'd like to think i'm getting better and hearing someone else talk about their own experiences is so relieving and encouraging. thank you for this video, it wasn't something i knew i needed and it's been extremely validating to see my struggles in someone else 💖

Yes, Granny Smith's too for me! Any crumbly textured Apple would be gag reflex time again! Braeburns for me these days, again, provided they are NOT crumbly in texture!!

Listening to you is like listening to an audio book of my life! Thank you

thx for your video! you put in words what happened to me with food in my childhood, and still now. thanks a lot! it's so amazing to see people with the same unspoken issues.

I cannot tell you how comforting it is to hear you talk about these issues you've had because my daughter is identical. I can't even tell you, right down to the same items of food! I want to send her this video but we've never discussed it before.

Ever since I was a baby I’ve had foods that I just can’t eat, it started with baby food, and this is really a eye opener for me, I’m definitely gonna have to look into this more

All my life I've been a picky eater. I really liked this video, because, I can understand everything you are talking about. I have always had a serious problem with Vinegar. I am 45 years old now and I still can't stand it! Just the smell of vinegar drives me crazy. I feel a little nauseous. It's never made me physically vomit. But, I have the urge to throw up. That is just from the smell! When I was younger, someone brought a bag of potato chips over and set them on the table. I saw the bag and thinking nothing of it, I grabbed a few chips and put one or two in my mouth. Right away, I knew something was wrong with the chips. It tasted so bad that I couldn't stand it! I felt a little sick and even more, psychologically bothered. It drove me insane! I quickly ran to the sink and spit it out! Then drank some water to get rid of the aftertaste. Then, I looked at the bag and found out they were: Salt and Vinegar chips! I don't understand why anyone would even have the desire to invent that flavor of chips! Now, I will have nothing to do with Vinegar! I will not cook with it or use it for cleaning or anything at all. I will never buy it. I don't have any in my apartment. I won't allow anybody to bring a bottle of it into my place! A little known fact about vinegar: Almost anything that calls for vinegar as an ingredient, you can use "Lemon Juice" as a substitute for vinegar! You might have to use a little more lemon juice than vinegar, but, most of the time, lemon juice will work just fine. I have lemon juice to use instead of vinegar. Lemon does not have a repulsive smell or taste. I have never liked sauces on things like hamburgers and salads. I hate ketchup, mustard, pickles, mayonnaise, salad dressing, etc. Even now, when I go to a restaurant, I order hamburgers plain or with only: Lettuce, tomato and onion, nothing else. I can't stand sauces like ketchup and mustard. Partially because they taste bad. Also, they smell bad, they contain a lot of vinegar, and the texture and other things. Most sauces I really can't stand. But, I do like gravy on potatoes and jelly or jam and butter on bread. Other than those, most sauces like ketchup are simply intolerable and they make me feel sick. I can't stand them! It's been a long time since I've actually tried ketchup, for example. I remember that night pretty well. It was 25 years ago, on my 21st birthday. I was in a bar, drinking my first "LEGAL" beers. I drank so much that I had to get some food to soak up some of the alcohol. I got some fries. They brought some ketchup with them. I was so drunk that I thought, "It's been more than 10 years since I've tried ketchup. I should try it now. What's the worst that could happen? It'll taste bad and I'll throw up. If it makes me puke, the bathroom is only 20 feet away, all I have to do is run to it! Even if I do get sick and throw up, I've had so much alcohol tonight that the beer, whiskey and other things I've drank tonight will probably be what made me sick, not the ketchup. Although that may trigger me and cause me to get sick." Still nervous, I dipped One French fry in ketchup and tried it. It didn't taste good at all! I felt a little sick, but, I didn't vomit. Without drinking a ton of alcohol, I'd of never tried it. I have refused to eat things because they have ketchup, vinegar or other things I hate on them. When I was growing up with my mom and dad, if they made something I didn't like, I'd just make myself something else. From this video, I can see I am not alone and this is kind of normal for people who are Autistic. I didn't know I had Asperger's until I was 40 years old! That's when a Psychologist first told me I had it. Until then, I didn't even know what Asperger's was.

So I just found your channel and I've been devouring your videos! My daughter and I are both autistic but we haven't been tested and given a diagnosis but it's obvious. I related to this video myself and as a mom. Worrying about your child's nutrition is a beast of its own. But texture is such a struggle im grateful that she will try things a very small bite. We now homeschool because it was way too much for her and me tbh! Im so glad I found your channel!!

I relate to this deeply. My parents never understood, they felt I was fighting them for my way. My dad’s a chef, so he would make a huge deal about it all the time. Forcing me to eat things. My mom was more understanding, remember her making me plain buttered noodles a lot.

I have anorexia nervosa and aspergers... it's all very complicated! 😂

Sam, its like your talking about my own life. I've been watching your videos non stop since last night (sounding so creepy now haha) I was particularly fussy with food and it didnt help that i had it pointed out to me allll the time. I hated when people commented on what i was or wasnt eating and this led me to actually not wanting to eat anything at all. My family have the "thin gene" hehe and so of course there were people who would comment on how thin i was and that i needed to eat more. I am yet to actually peel away and dig into all of the psychological trauma i've just stuffed down in my own subconscious because of food issues. For me it was also the smell, textures (Colour didnt bother me as much) and my food mixing was a big no no. If my peas touched the mashed potatoes, i would lose my shit. If there was meat on my plate, i'd only eat it if it was not slimy, sloppy, saucy, soft or fatty. So basically like you, i liked the processed, thinly sliced ham, i liked dry chicken breast or crispy bacon with no fat. I love crunchy foods, i've always loved nuts, crisps, m&m's, crunchy mint chocolate.... But yea, i completely relate to that physical sensation of actually getting like, goosebumps or shivers when imagining taking a bite out of a marmite and butter sandwhich (as a child) and you cant bloody stand the fact that there's butter on it and you can see the butter and marmite mixing (oh my god help me.) hahaaha The problem that im facing now is that i tell my therapist about these things, but i still feel she doesn't believe that i am in fact on the Autism Spectrum. I'm 28 years old and i live in Brisbane, Australia. Going through the diagnostic assessment here costs around $1620 Australian dollars. Thats not including any other appointments for referrals, therapy or initial consultation appointments. Its completely inaccessable for me as a stay at home mum of two daughters (nearly 2 and nearly 5 year olds) as we rely on one income and unfortunately due to years and years of just sucking at life, i've developed bad shopping habits which causes us to be unable to save any money for this kind of thing. Sorry, i only meant to share a short comment, but here you go haha Thank you so much for expressing your experiences so well in such an understandable, relatable way and making me feel more confidant about my own situation and also giving me the vocabulary to actually be able to say what i need to say at my next therapy appointment. Its also helped me to remember a lot of things that i must have suppressed a bit of these memories. As you might know, when asked questions relating to this subject of "Why do you think your autistic?", i freeze and tend to either go into too much detail about things or get on another subject to avoid feeling stupid. Regards, Michelle

Thank you for this vídeo! I m struggling so much with my son's food issues. And after your childhood eating like that, you are there, healthy and wonderful! 😊👍

Thank you so so much, I went through all of that pretty much exactly and had no idea why. This really means a lot to me.

Totally relate! Sauces were the worst. I would only eat spaghetti with butter and Parmesan cheese. Plain burgers....I would eat bread and butter, but no cheese or anything else on it. Foods couldn’t touch each other. I would cry when ppl tried to force me to try aversive foods. I’ve come a long way, but I’m still picky. Ppl still get frustrated with me bc I don’t want to try certain foods.

It took until my 30s to be able to eat things that had a weird texture. Still can't touch fish though (apart from tuna).

This video made me feel seen and heard in a way I didn't even believe to be possible anymore. Thank you for making such valuable content.

I am so glad I found you!! It’s like meeting myself … my real self … for the first time!!

i'm still a really picky eater, i wish i wasn't like this, cause it's not healthy.. i still have to have a different meal from the rest of my family too , it's kinda sad

"and there's bread crumbs everywhere" I understand that. For me it wheat, corn, dairy. Sometimes it seems like I can't eat anything and good luck at the store it's in everything

This resonates with me 100%, down to almost the same sort of food aversions you mentioned. Reframing my "sensitivity" as sensory processing issues, particularly these food aversions, has been illuminating.

If I didn't know better, I would think you were describing my little almost 5 year old granddaughter - so many things you and she have in common. I know this video is from 2 years ago, but so timely for me, and helps me to understand her better and better. Thank you for your videos! Keep up the good work. ❤️🥰

Just three minutes into the video, and I already relate to everything you've said

This reminded me that from age 4 until 10 all I would eat at school was prunes and custard. I have no idea why. I was very fortunate that the school did cater to my needs.

I am impressed. What an insightful broadcast.... well done--you have explained this topic in detail and with reassurance towards the end. Thank you.

I, again, have never resonated more with someone or a video in my life. I am 22 and have been misdiagnosed and misheard my entire life and your description of your picky and particular eating is exactly how and why I eat and have always eaten in the way I have. I unfortunately have reached this point and it’s ended up causing stomach issues as well from have sensitivities to things I never ate. I can’t agree more with everything you’ve said and each one of your videos I see make me feel more and more okay in this world. Thank you

this definitely resonated with me. i'm 21 now, have been thinking for a few months that i might be autistic (two autistic friends say i am, mum thinks i probably am, my own research suggests it's likely). i was never as fussy as you, but i've always been fairly fussy. i have maybe three or four vegetables that i like ("like" might be too strong a word), which i make sure i cook with every dinner. i can eat bananas and strawberries (i like the taste usually but strawberries have to be the exact right ripeness for me to /actually/ like them), i can tolerate apples and oranges and cape gooseberries and peaches. i cannot eat most berries, anything too sharp, or anything with certain textures. most of the vegetables i dislike have bad textures, for example the skin of tomatoes (i can eat tomato sauces etc). i cannot abide mushrooms - everything about them is bad: the taste, the texture, the smell alone is enough to make me want to vomit. what's helped with vegetables over the last year or so is mostly cutting them up small and putting them in things. specifically i can eat something like butternut squash or courgette if there's no peel/skin and it's cut up fairly small, mixed into a dahl or covered in garlic or something like that to lessen the intensity of the taste. i think my social anxiety has forced me to eat more things anyway - i'm too embarrassed not to eat in front of people especially if they've cooked for me so i force myself to eat stuff i hate, and it doesn't make me like it but i think i can tolerate it better now.

I relate so much to this! I would share 2 things from my experience. 1) You cannot force me to eat new food. I had to be ready to try things on my own and I needed to do it when people I knew weren't around so there wasn't any pressure. 2) DO NOT make a big deal when I eat something new. It feels so patronizing and humiliating.

This is such a great description and is exactly how I felt in the 60's! I didn't change until I was 18 in 1981 because I wanted to fit in socially. I wish I had known that it wasn't just me. Keep up your brilliant work. 👍

Thank you so much for making this! I had such issues with textures when i was younger and only started trying new food when my parents allowed me to name how i wanted to try them (for me it was plain white rice with the new food cooked seperately and cut into small pieces so I could mix it into the rice) I even remember going to nutritionists and being made to have full fat milk (i would only have it in hot chocolate NOT cereal) I only started having sauces when i got to about 12 years old as i was so embarrassed about not having them. I am finding it so comforting hearing you did similar things! I am not autistic (I don't think) but i have multiple allergies which bring a whole extra level to my stress levels when trying new foods which i still find today (21 years old)

I like this video. I have some similar issues to food as you do.

Lots of processed food and Nutella! Sounds like my childhood! Interestingly enough, though, i don’t usually like eating those things anymore and in fact am very keen on whole foods, ESPECIALLY fruits (I still have a sweet tooth so I love anything naturally sweet). But my physicians suspect that I might have food sensitivities (possibly gluten sensitivities) because of my stomach issues and persistent nausea.

This is such good information! My boys are both extremely loved weirdos. 🤪😋 I have trouble getting both of them to eat properly as well. I have just recently found your channel and you have helped me tremendously with understanding what is going on in my wife and my Son's heads. Thank you!

That was amazingly helpful thank you 🙂. Like a little much needed trip into my daughters world 💚💜

I felt very similar, I didnt eat loads of food until I hit my teens, i found that my mum and dad actually cooked alot of veg and things incorrectly... or at least incorrect to me lol. Once I started cooking vegetables and sauces my way I ate them fine

I'm still eating peanut butter and nutella every morning, after 28 years...

Thank you! :) This was so validating to my experience growing up.

Mind blown- Your childhood diet is exactly what my son eats. I’ve been baffled and concerned- but now I feel encouraged. Thank you!

Yes!! Sauce slime effect too!!! Again empathy completely!!!

I've always had an extreme revulsion to fried greasy and salty foods. I smell the salt and feel how abrasive it would be against my skin. It makes me quite anxious to see people eating crisps. I became a whole foods vegan as soon as I began cooking for myself.

this is so helpful to me! i'm very well known as a picky eater and was diagnosed with anorexia as a teen kid and now that i hear you talking about it, everything makes sense to me! the more stressed i was, the less i wanted to eat but the people around me always thought/said things like "dont you like the food i cook for you? wow youre SUCH a slow eater!" and more stuff that only made me associate food with this feeling of shame but i also remember times where i finish my plate before realizing and for example being faster than my bf and I'm like "OK? so i dont have a problem with food anymore or what?" but i now see that those were times where i felt stimulated "in the right way" and ofc those meals included my favorite food textures

I am a speech pathologist who works with people with autism, and this is so helpful. Just to hear things we were taught in lectures expressed by someone who has actually experienced it. Thank you!

I have watched your video and it reminded me of my son. He's 7...and as you would say, a "fussy" eater. His main thing is bread with chocolate spread. It used to be just white casino slices (Square with no weird crust) and chocolate spread but nowadays he also eats brown bread. White tiger bread he eats, but not the crust because....well, that's weird. Over the last year i've put so much energy into him trying new things, all for the reason of wanting him to be healthy....but after watching your video, things just make sense :/....Thank you for that. I'm going to try and see if i can see a pattern in his eating habits and see if i can adjust the food for him. No more, you need to try this...no more pressure. :) Thank you...and thanks to my girlfriend for finding you. She's autistic as well and found allot of similarities in your stories! :D

School lunches were the worst!! 🤢🤢

I am so glad that I found your channel. Clearly I have had issues with autism/Asperger all my life and never knew exactly what it was. These Videos are so eye-opening and energizing. It is great to discover concepts Such as dropping the mask. I have become so tired of keeping up with this forever. No more ;)

I've just found out your channel and I'm surprised that we have so much in common. I've been diagnosed with celiac disease 2 years ago (but still have 163 cm of height) and I've been diagnosed with autism 1,5 month ago 😊 I'm glad there are more people like me in the world. That's very comforting that I'm not alone.

When I was a kid o would only eat like fried chicken, Mac and cheese, chicken nuggets/tenders, and pizza. Haha that’s about it. But something changed after like 7th grade and suddenly I could eat like five more foods! But now I basically love all food, but I’m picky about what I eat and when I want to eat it, but I can eat most anything without getting sick or stressed out.

Texture, color, what it looks like, oh and my food can’t touch. Watching people mix their bites 😬

This video is very relatable for me. Even though our experience was different in many ways, it feels good to hear someone else talk about food aversions somewhat similar to mine. My list was, I think, not quite as long as yours, but, unfortunately, I have not grown out of most of mine, so it remains a feature in my life.

Your description of the food issues is good. I’ve tried to explain to some people that it’s not just a matter of not liking certain foods, but that I would literally gag if I attempted to eat it. It’s not something we can help. Combining this with food allergies/sensitivities makes meal planning challenging and limited.

Hmm I empathize! The ham sandwich thing! I was EXACTLY the same! Still I can't stand Yoghurt, ANY Yoghurt! The drying effect on my tongue, I simply CAN'T stand it!!! Tuna! Uuuurgh!!! Too fishy!! Yes I understand the gag reflex too, when the foods smell/ taste/ texture, is so repulsive!

3:03 I remember Nutella glasses

Oh! And I love your hair, very pretty!

Thank you so much for the tips on food. Hopefully this information will make it easier for me to cook for my wife and children

I was a fairly fussy eater as a kid (no food sensory issues though, mostly just taste and some minor textures). I was teased and pressured relentlessly as a child about being picky by everyone in the family. As an adult, I like many more foods because I discovered that some of the flavors my parents loved (see Ranch dressing, squash, anything with 'nut' in the name, dried fruit or crab) I absolutely cannot stand the flavor of. I only discovered these things when I moved out of the house though. It's sad that, at least in my culture, we just think kids are being unreasonable when they do have their own reasons. I'm glad that your mom worked with you and didn't just pressure you until you couldn't take it anymore. I've also discovered that I'm a super taster. For me, that means that raw tomatoes are extremely bitter. (Yes, really. No, I'm not lying.). I'm also very sensitive to bitter flavors in general and tend to avoid them, but I've learned ways of cooking that reduce those unpleasant flavors and to simply not cook with ingredients I don't like. Did any adult around me think about those things? No. They weren't discussed back then and you were simply supposed to eat what was put on the table and not pick things out (because that's seen as rude). Oh, and yeah, my whole family loves to talk about how I wouldn't eat certain foods as a kid and it's soooo fun to relive all the traits others perceived as negative that you had when you were 4 years old for the rest of your life. Just my favorite set of topics.

I still can't handle tomatoes. They're so slimey and gooey... I can handle those tinned tomatoes if they're cut small though.

Thank you for sharing this! Your tastes in food were EXACTLY the same as my son! The only things he'll eat are lasagna and pizza, he LOVES cheese. This makes me happy to hear that there is a chance his palate would change. I feel like it's such a fight. I will definitely have more patience and understanding. I should really get it, because I have a thing with textures myself. But I thank you again for this video, it's very helpful.

Thanks for helping me understand my husband, kids and grandkids better! My dad said that I would get dessert if I tried one spoonful of the food my mom prepared. So I could decide what I wanted to do. I think that helped me to have less food problems;-) Love you 😘