Kids and Vegetables

There is a story every day and numerous blog posts about getting kids to eat veggies.  I am struck by the number of suggestions, the blame game and the blatant naïveté about getting kids to eat veggies.   As an example, some suggest offering them repeatedly until they try it, or adding purees to common meals, or having the kids watch you eat them, or playing games with veggies.  Fine.  Others suggest the reason the kids don’t eat their veggies is because of bad parenting or laziness.  Still others have no clue about a child’s taste buds being different than that of an adult. 

 

As a parent of a child with autism, the suggestions and the blame game rub me wrong.   A lot of kids with autism have increased sensitivity to taste, smell, texture and even color. Veggies pretty much cover all of these senses!  For awhile there, my son wouldn’t go near veggies, no matter what I tried.   (That doesn’t make me a bad parent or lacking in creativity.)    Over time, his sensory diet increased and we were able to introduce veggies.  Just wish Full Tank was around during the early days!