Originally posted by Bichon Barb
I'm sorry to hear that too.
I have a friend whose daughter has a problem with food textures. Certain foods will actually make her vomit.
I think that is a hypersensitivity disorder???
Thanks! It's been an unusual journey with Katie. She has been diagnosed with Sensory Integration Dysfunction... which affects different kids different ways. It can be a balance and coordination issue, or problems with textures, smells, sounds... it depends on which of the senses aren't "integrating." We're really lucky compared to some families dealing with this issue. Katie doesn't have an IEP, and most teachers spot her as "quirky," but since she's so afraid of being embarrassed, if something does bother her, she waits until she gets home to melt down. She's sensory avoiding with food, certain textures of clothing, and she has a sense of smell like a bloodhound. She's sensory seeking in that she loves the teacup ride and could do it over and over and over again, and is always fiddling with something. I never had to worry about her drinking poison under the sink, since she wouldn't even taste orange juice, but I was constantly pulling coins, marbles, bobbypins, even a thumbtack out of her mouth when she was younger!
As far as her food phobia, she had an incredibly tough time switching from me to a bottle, even with expressed milk. (Hope I didn't give anyone the heebie-jeebies with that.) She also screamed every minute she was sitting in the car seat facing backwards if the car was not moving. As soon as she was a year old and could face forward, it was not ever a problem again. She began spitting out certain foods as soon as they had any texture beyond baby oatmeal. The typical "try it over and over and they'll get used to it" did not work with her. We didn't know this disorder even existed, and by the time we realized she was phobic, there was not much we could do, short of sticking her in Children's Hospital and letting them "starve" her into eating regular food. Just couldn't do that to her.
It's not something she will ever outgrow, but peer pressure will cause her to try a few new things, I'm sure, like maybe a different brand of mac n cheese at a friend's house or restaurant. After our first night on the
Disney cruise, our waiters automatically brought her chicken fingers and french fries only and chocolate ice cream for dessert. She really doesn't want to be perceived as "weird," so for example the other day at lunch, she tried a dry piece of Captain Crunch cereal that someone had in her lunch. She NEVER would have done that a year ago! So we have a flicker of hope!!!
For your friends' info, there is a wonderful book called "The Out-of-Sync Child" by Carol Kranowitz... it has a checklist inside to help parents "pre-diagnose" whether or not their child might have it. If they can get into occupational therapy before age 4, a lot can be done to help avoid bigger problems later. If only we had known. <a href='http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008' target='_blank'><img src='http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/4/4_2_100.gif' alt='Bang Your Head' border=0></a>
Sorry for the long post, everyone, and doubly sorry if I've posted this all before. My memory is the size of a pea.