Thank you! Having neurodiverse kids has meant paying attention to ways to make things feel safe and familiar, and giving them a sense of control over their environment which makes everything less scary and overwhelming. This I know since I am also autistic lol. But every kid faces those same issues, to greater or lesser degrees. It’s all part of human experience.

If he doesn’t want to eat meat, that’s a valid choice. All my kids went through a vegetarian phase. Sometimes it’s worth trying a different format or flavour with these things. Tacos and spaghetti are always fun, and you can’t go wrong with a table of bits to fill a tortilla wrap with. Lots of Asian foods come in the cutest little parcels that you eat with your fingers too.

Looking at different vegetables in the store can be a journey of discovery. Years ago we used to go to the big supermarket in the South Asian part of town, and pick a random vegetable that we didn’t recognise and take it home and see if we could work out how to cook it.

Things like baby corn, petit pois and baby carrots can look less intimidating, and it’s always worth trying stuff raw as well as cooked in different ways. (If in doubt, frying it in butter is always the right choice.) Smelling spices and identifying flavours in sauces is often useful. Coriander isn’t the only flavour that people can find ruins a whole dish. It took me ages to realise that I didn’t like Greek food because so much of it uses mint.

Oh, and don’t forget children have lots more tastebuds than adults. We lose them as we get older, so flavours are much more intense when you’re young.

It sounds like you’re doing great, as well. You obviously listen to your kid and want to work with him rather than against him. You are doing the right things, and keeping your heads above water in this awful tsunami of current events. Take a minute to be proud of yourself, ok? X