Gooli’s diet has been one of the greatest Autism related challenges our family has had to face. We are INCREDIBLY fortunate that Gooli has never suffered from Sleep Disturbance (he has slept 11hours consistently and with military precision since he was one). He also has never suffered from GI problems (that we can detect, anyway). His diet on the other hand– a struggle.

He began restricting his food choices around the time of his diagnosis, just shy of two-years-old. He started refusing foods he once accepted. Ultimately, we landed on the dreaded “white diet” folks with Autism are often known for. Through work, we helped him make some healthier substitutions. He most easily accepts rice cakes, multi-seed GF crackers, plantain chips (this was huge for us- fruit!- sort of).

We experimented with the GFCFSF diet. Despite Gooli having no noticeable GI symptoms, we thought it was worth a try. He almost immediately shut down his food intake and became more and more restrictive. After two weeks he would accept nothing more than unsalted white rice cakes and water. He began to look ill- his little eyes sinking into his face. We abandoned the diet (right or wrong), and he immediately started re-introducing some of his old staple foods (ironically most of them were GFCFSF!). We haven’t abandoned the idea of attempting this diet again (more about this in the current goals + approaches section).

In the past year or so, our family experienced an unbelievable amount of change. COVID, Gooli’s school shut down with no remote school option for kids in PreK, our family moved across the country, Dad went back to work 100+ hours per week (no exaggeration), and I left my full time job. These changes, while difficult (I’ll write more about managing such a difficult transition elsewhere) also led to unanticipated improvements in Gooli’s diet! Having me cooking at home more, and allowing Gooli to help in the kitchen, has led to incredible bonding and communication opportunities. It has also led to his trying new foods! He grabbed a raw onion and bit into it. At first I gasped. Then I saw him take a second bite. He eats them raw or cooked now! Same with garlic, peppers, strawberries!!! strawberries!!!! and they’re not even in chip-form. He also started requesting ground beef and grilled chicken! If you can’t tell from the “!!!”, this is very exciting for our family. Diet is an area that I hope to dedicate much of this year to. I dedicate a whole section to it in the current goals + approaches section. There, I list all of the foods he currently accepts, and plans for building on these from a behavioral therapy approach (again, my studies being marginally helpful here).