Headstart pt.2

In most cases, dealing with an autistic child means dealing with a very picky eater. Most times it has absolutely nothing to do with taste, smell or even allergies. It’s just a decision that is made and hardly ever wavered. My son was no exception to this. He refused to eat school lunch. No matter what it was he wouldn’t eat it. Not even a school “ta va” would change his mind. I started packing him lunches full of things he liked. I packed fruit flavored yogurts, graham crackers, fruit cups, peanut butter crackers, apple or orange juice and water. Apparently, this was not good enough for his teachers. They felt he should be eating food with substance and not the “snacks” (as they put it) that I was sending. In my opinion, this became a battle for no good reason. He wasn’t underweight and I explained to them that he always had a meal prepared for him when he got home. Still wasn’t good enough. I was so frustrated with the situation that there were times I fussed at him for not eating the school lunch. I look back knowing what I didn’t know then and I regret that too. After a few more weeks of him refusing to eat the school lunch, one of his teachers pulled me into the hallway for a one on one chat. She tells me that she thinks she has figured out why my son will not eat their lunch. Her theory was that he sees people as meat and therefore won’t eat meat because to him meat equals people……………………. I had no comment for this woman. By the end of this ordeal, my son had won. He NEVER ate school lunch and got to enjoy his “snacks” 