My Limited Diet

This blog is a bit off topic. I usually write about my photography. It will very interesting to read about how I have gotten over one part of my autism. This will help other people with autism to try new foods. When I was little I used to have a very limited diet. I would only eat Pizza, Chips, Ham and Cheese Toasted Sandwiches, Waffles, Rice cakes, Biscuits and Potatoes. I refused to eat other foods than the types I have just listed.

I had the ham and cheese toasted sandwiches everyday for lunch for nine years. I always had two sandwiches in one day so I have worked out the number of sandwiches that I have eaten on a calculator. The number of sandwiches is 6570. For a while I had to have them cut into 16 small triangles instead of four or they couldn’t be eaten. The crusts had to be cut off and the cheese couldn’t be oozing out.

I also had to have my pizza and waffles cut in almost the same way for a while. I had my pizza cut into small squares instead of slices. I had healthy waffles with grated carrots, hemp seeds and flax seeds and the waffle hearts were cut into thirds. The small pieces thing went on until my parents had suggested for me to try all those foods in bigger pieces.

When we went to our friends houses to eat lunch with them we had to take the sandwich toaster with us because I couldn’t eat any of their lunches. Our friends knew what I was like so they didn’t mind at all.

When I reached the ages 10, 11 and 12 I started to try new foods. When I started trying new foods I planned the dates on the kitchen calendar eg. Josie tries broccoli on the 13th of May. This method worked until I started attending a child services outreach programme in Boyle with the Brothers Of Charity one evening every week after school. While I was there I was taught a lot more about trying new foods by my outreach worker.

For dinner during the outreach evening after school my friends and I took turns choosing what we wanted to eat for dinner once a week. First I chose ham and cheese toasted sandwiches and chips for dinner then I was taught that It is nice to eat the same thing as everyone else instead of having a special food every time. When one of my friends chose a food for the next weeks dinner that I have never tried eg. spaghetti bolognese I was given homework by my outreach worker to try that food before my next evening of the outreach programme.

I was also taught at home that it was nice to eat the same thing as my family instead of eating a special food. I tried foods such as rice, salads, curries and stir fries. I still had to get out of eating my toasted sandwiches all the time. Each time I went into a restaurant with my brothers of charity group my outreach worker found me always picking those sandwiches and she told me to try something else.

Now that my diet has gotten a lot better I can eat almost everything. We don’t have to take the sandwich toaster with us anymore to our friends houses. I always eat the dinners that are served to me.

Although I ate different kinds of dinners I still ate my sandwiches everyday for lunch. During the COVID 19 Lockdown I got more out of eating the same lunch everyday. We didn’t have the ingredients for my sandwiches as we were self isolating. I just forgot about them and ate different lunches such as salads and soups for three months. I was doing very well. Although it is very easy to get back into eating the same lunch everyday I will stop it from happening again.