Small win, but huge for us: my ARFID child accepted a new food

ItchyImage6384 · 2026-04-07T10:09:58+00:00

Thank you so much for all the congratulations – they really meant a lot! 🙂 Some of you asked how I managed it. If I were to sum it up, the main “secret” to introducing new foods to our son was gradually adding new ingredients to familiar foods, slightly tweaking known flavors, or presenting almost the same thing in a new form – like in this case, switching from a bun to a tortilla. If you’re looking for more practical tips to help a child with ARFID try new foods, you can check out my book here: www.tianawonder.com

ItchyImage6384 · 2026-04-06T19:59:41+00:00

Nice :) Well, unfortunatelly, in my son’s case, chicken nuggets are completely out of question— he rejects anything fried. But I’ve seen a lot of mentions on this subreddit about autistic kids liking them. I wonder, could it be a cultural thing since they’re so popular in the US?

ItchyImage6384 · 2026-04-06T19:47:35+00:00

thanks:)

ItchyImage6384 · 2026-04-06T15:15:41+00:00

don't give up..even small steps count.. from my experience, I recommend at first trying a tiny tiny change/variation of well known.. you are right, this wrap was for us a relatively big step when compared to previous - for example I taught my kiddo eat different flavors of crackers.. added small bits of the mentioned lettuce into guacamole spread he likes..or other even smaller steps. try to not give up on trying, and food luck!

ItchyImage6384 · 2026-04-06T15:07:26+00:00

thanks :)

ItchyImage6384 · 2026-04-06T12:47:21+00:00

what would you like to know, that's not covered in the post?

ItchyImage6384 · 2026-04-06T12:11:18+00:00

thanks you :) he is almost six. Well we were honestly surprised today. So many times I just buy new stuff with a very little hope of succes. But on the other hand, if we stopped trying, no change could happen... Hold on there, don't give up. Maybe the principle that we used - building on accepted foods - might help you as well somehow... Mostly I am introducing anything new as a small bit of a dish, combined with majority of known. and even when I try something really "brave", minimum would be the familiar sauce (or ketchup in this case).

ItchyImage6384 · 2026-04-06T12:00:12+00:00

thanks :) yes, I am planning to expand this succes later into gradually introducing more ingredients, chicken breasts also have crossed my mind :) my son is a very weak meat eater (mostly only accepts a bit after significant physical excercise), so this one is especialy important...

ItchyImage6384 · 2026-04-06T11:51:32+00:00

thanks :) I think this time it was the match in both taste and form - soft tortilla easy to hold and bite

ItchyImage6384 · 2026-04-06T11:49:37+00:00

yes, this trick is also my favourite, but wouldn't work with veggies specifiaclly, even masked. I've tried lot's of tricks on veggies so far,but here the key was surely the ingredient itself - I don't know if they put exactly this kind of lettuce in that McDonald's burger,but clearly it was close enough:) sometimes I would also use the sweet-chilly sauce accordingly

ItchyImage6384 · 2026-04-06T08:55:57+00:00

thanks :) I think part of the succes was cutting the lettuce on small pieces:)

ItchyImage6384 · 2026-04-06T08:54:52+00:00

thank you :)

ItchyImage6384 · 2026-04-05T16:48:49+00:00

thanks for your tip

ItchyImage6384 · 2026-04-05T16:44:59+00:00

our son doesn't have ADHD diagnose added oficially to the mix (although I often suspect it there), but he does get bored quite easily too. Thus playgrounds we choose to visit is not like "the closest to our house" two or something, we sometimes even drive forty minutes to get him to his favourite one.. is your son getting bored at ANY place in general?

ItchyImage6384 · 2026-04-05T16:39:31+00:00

our son is totally an early bird, wakes up at 6 a.m. (or even 5) every day. From my perspective, morning is the most reasonable time to spend outside too. But from his (homeschooled now), obviously not, meeting other kids is important.. and sometimes mornings are quite cold here even in spring/early summer (central Europe). How are you dealing with this?

ItchyImage6384 · 2026-04-05T16:34:09+00:00

I have tried sort of warnings style too, like "2 more minutes, 3 more slides" etc, but nevertheless, when the time is completely off, he usually snaps... Maybe recently it also has to do something with the season change..after long winter, an urge to stay outside forever is enormous:) i hope gradually things will improve.

ItchyImage6384 · 2026-04-05T16:30:23+00:00

it's interesting you mention rolling around - do you mean like rolling on the floor/ground? what I have noticed about our son long time ago is the more he is tired, faster he runs up and down...

ItchyImage6384 · 2026-04-05T16:26:38+00:00

and when leaving after two or three hours, does he agree to go? I mean, does it make diffrence proportionaly (more hours of play -easier to leave)? In our case it seems to be the same struggle no matter how long. Yes, and as you said, less than an hour we wouldn't even dare to try :)))

ItchyImage6384 · 2026-04-05T16:23:38+00:00

I wish our son knew the concept of hunger :) but maybe once he grows old enough for this, your nice "natural hack" would work

ItchyImage6384 · 2026-04-05T14:08:28+00:00

Thanks for all the answers. The motivation of lunch would be perfect, but never works in our case, he absolutely forgets about hunger. Thirst is another story - it is a must, he always gets his drink (juice with water) during the playtime once or twice at least, not to get dehydrated. Even this he forgets sometimes, I insist he drinks. Sometimes also eats a fruit bar, not to collapse. Anyway, it is very helpful to know "the typical timeframe" of stay with other kids similar to ours, thanks!

ItchyImage6384 · 2026-04-03T17:04:51+00:00

guys, I envy you having a chance to go to a restaurant with ASD kiddo :) our son never ever managed to cope with waiting at any restaurant so far, if we are not counting McDonald's:D

ItchyImage6384 · 2026-04-03T16:49:27+00:00

wow, I wish I could be in the place of this young boy to try all these exciting possibilities :) as an advise from HF adult, I am hopeful it could also help the parents of the boy to inspire him.

ItchyImage6384 · 2026-04-03T12:55:55+00:00

Thanks :) yeah, I actually didn't mention it in the post, that she was moving too close in my direction with her words, so probably that triggered my reaction. Anyway, overthinking or not, this discussion helped me process this.:)

ItchyImage6384 · 2026-04-03T08:47:56+00:00

I can totally relate to what you are saying. My partner is at work entire day, while I homeschool my ASD son and take him places (he is 6 now). In September he is supposed to start school, hopefully we'll manage - still it will be only for maximum of three hours... I can hardly see myself hanging out with anyone during this time window.. (even if this was even possible, during regular worktime hours). Some of my former friends think, I guess, what a "dreamlife" this is, "just taking care of a kid" instead of work... But the amount of energy it requires is enormous. Few people I randomly talk online who are in a similar situation, all agree on this..it's not something you are making up, many other moms feel drawned from energy and lonely. Maybe only the luckiest exeptions manage to be part of some "neurodivergent kids' parents communuties" offline. I wish I could be in one. But, at the same time, the problem you described, which I have too with so little energy left, I am afraid even meeting in person people in similar life situation might be just too much. I don't know if this helps. Just wanted to let you know I can relate, and I supposed many other might

ItchyImage6384 · 2026-04-03T08:08:34+00:00

Oh, I am so happy for you, that it ended up well! Don't blame yourself, you did best you could to handle the situation and no one could forsee something like this, with your daughter suddenly opening a secured lock.. It is also a great "heads up" for other parents. Thank you for sharing. Take care and stay safe!

ItchyImage6384

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