I'm an adult and I don't have Autism, but I have Sensory Processing Disorder in all seven of my senses, so I definitely identify with all of y'all's (except the person with the non-picky kids) children's diets. It just isn't possible to eat most things and hasn't been my whole life. It may not be the healthiest diet in the world (though I'm sure it isn't the least healthiest these days), but we survive. Maybe what I write will help some of you parents understand or help your children.
I'll work from the lists y'all have written and add anything else I can think of that hasn't been mentioned yet....
American cheese - Yes, in slices (meaning eating just plain slices) or melted in bread as a plain grilled cheese sandwich. I also like yellow cheddar (especially NY Extra Sharp) in slices/cubes or melted on pizza, pecorino romano grated on pasta, mozzarella on pizza or in cheese sticks or melted on pasta and bread, parmesan grated on pasta and bread, provolone in slices or melted on pizza and bread, ricotta in pasta or on pizza (definitely NOT in desserts!), and maybe another type of cheese or two. I definitely agree with those "power of cheese" ads, LOL! I eat some form of cheese practically every single day.
Grilled cheese (no crust) - Yes, without crust. I cannot eat bread crusts. I cannot have anything else in the grilled cheese sandwiches, either.
Plain pizza (removes the cheese) - I went through a phase as a kid where I removed the cheese from the pizza, too! (I know, weird considering how much I've always loved cheese!) Now I always eat it with cheese. But no toppings other than types of cheeses. I don't always eat the crusts, but sometimes I do. I like pan pizza better than thin pizza.
Bananas - I can eat them, but don't eat them very often. I'd have to really want one to eat it.
Cheese raviolis with plain (Hunts) tomato sauce (no spaghetti sauce) - If you mean just canned tomatoe sauce that you use to make sauce with, that is nasty to me. No can do. But I do love cheese ravioli with either meatless red sauce (I can't eat any meat or fish, by the way - not a "poor animals" issue, either) or Alfredo/other cheese sauce. (Alfredo is a new edition within the past several years.)
Spaghetti with the same sauce - There are several types of pasta I eat. Pasta is my main staple (pizza is the other one, which I eat a bit less of). My two favorites are cavatelli (in the freezer section) with butter (no sauce), which is what I eat most nights, and homemade (by a local store) fusilli with butter (no sauce). I also like ziti/penne/etc. with meatless sauce/marinara. I also enjoy mannicotti (ricotta only inside) and stuffed shells (ricotta only inside) with meatless/marinara sauce. I also like mac & cheese (original or white cheddar). I do not eat any baked pasta that is crusty and hard, as I cannot tolerate that texture. I always have tons of grated cheese on top of my pasta (except mac & cheese).
Peanut butter sandwiches no crust (Skippy and don’t try to slip in another brand he will notice) - Yes (never with jelly or crusts), only with smooth (not chunky) peanut butter and not with natural peanut butter (the kind with the oil on top). I love the Reese's brand of peanut butter. I also enjoy peanut butter in between two Ritz crackers. I don't like peanut oil, however.
Pringles salt and vinegar potato chips - No.
Herr’s sour cream and onion potato chips - Never heard of that brand, but I can eat sour cream & onion I think, as well as French Onion (is it similar?) Sun Chips. I can also eat regular potatoe chips (love those Ruffles!) and Lays BBQ flavour. Possibly another flavour or two that I'm forgetting - I don't eat chips that often right now (I'm not the one doing the shopping right now). I also LOVE Jax (cheese puffs), but not the skinny/bumpy textured Cheetos.
Gold fish (crackers regular type) - I like the regular cheddar ones, but the Extreme Pizza flavoured ones are my favorites.
Tasty cake butterscotch crumpets - No.
Fresh corn on the cob (dry) - No way, no type of corn.
Ketchup (his primary vegetable in mass quantities) - Only on some types of French fries (not McDonald's, but steak fries [the thick fries] and some places' skinny [regular] fries).
McDonalds French fries (ends removed) - Sort of. I haven't eaten them since I learned they're cooked in fish oil or something like that, as the thought disgusts me. I've never removed the ends of any fries unless the ends are burnt (dark brown) or soggy (I don't think anybody likes soggy fries!).
Other thin French fries (ends removed) - Yes, with the ends, and also steak fries, as I mentioned above.
Vanilla ice cream (no bean specs) - The bean specs are okay with me 'cause the natural vanilla bean tastes so good! I also like chocolate ice cream. I really like Cold Stone Creamery ice cream - my favorite Creation being the Peanut Butter Cup Perfection (chocolate ice cream, peanut butter, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and fudge mixed together) and my favorite milkshake being one I make up of cinnamon ice cream (or sweet cream ice cream and cinnamon spice mixed together if they don't have cinnamon ice cream) and graham cracker crusts (they mix the shakes VERY, VERY well - there are NO lumps or chunks!).
Strawberry Yoplait creamy yogurt (not much lately) - No strawberry anything (except maybe Jell-O), but Yoplait vanilla yogurt and banana yogurt (believe it or not, the low/non-fat kind WITH the chunks of bananas in it!! I usually never can mix textures like that!).
Hamburger rolls only from fast food places - I like plain bread, but I think hamburger rolls have seeds on them - I cannot eat seeds. (I also like garlic and cheese breads.)
Mom’s homemade butter cookies (he likes to help) - Not sure what these are.
Water - Yup! Chocolate milk, too. I used to like regular milk, but not anymore. I also like hot cocoa. (Uhm, okay, I like MANY chocolate things!!) I also like Hi-C Orange in the juice boxes only (I did try the ones in the plastic containers but it wasn't the same juice), Martinelli's apple juice (100% pure apple juice), and maybe one or two other things. This doesn't apply to your kids, but I also love red wine (especially merlot), flavoured beer (like Smirnoff Mandarin Orange), and some mixed drinks (my favorite being a rum runner).
Gummy multivitamins - No. I do drink an Ensure High Protein (chocolate or vanilla) every day as my breakfast, though.
silver dollar pankakes (dry) - I can eat plain pancakes dry or with faux maple syrup (can't stand the pure maple syrup), but I prefer Belgian waffles either dry (finger food eaten like a sandwich instead of cut up) or with faux maple syrup (I fill up each hole and then use a knife and fork to eat it). I also LOVE baked apple pancakes (a deep dish baked apple thing with a wonderful glaze on top). Williams-Sonoma's Cinnamon Apple (or is it Apple Cinnamon?) pancake mix (as waffles) is yummy, too. That's a brand new edition, as the mix was a Christmas gift for a family member.
cheese-its - Love those.
Dry cereal - Only Honey Nut Cheerios (which I haven't had in forever) has to be dry. I like half & half cream in my regular Cheerios and my Rice Krispies. (I also love Rice Krispie treats! And, speaking of marshmallows, I love making s'mores over a campfire!)
bacon - No. I can't eat any meat or fish.
pepperoni (yes, plain pepperoni, she loves it!) - No; see above.
chicken tenders/nuggets - No; see above.
hot dogs (especially with ketchup) - No; see above.
salami, ham - No; see above.
applesauce - No, as I cannot tolerate that texture. It will make me gag.
milk - Only chocolate milk. Chocolate soy milk isn't too bad, either.
Doritos - I love the Spiciest Cheddar (or whatever it is called) flavour best, but will also eat the original cheddar kind.
Doritos on his PB sandwich (go figure) - Never! Cannot mix textures with most things.
Hot rolls - Some breads should be hot and some should be room temperature (none should ever be cold!). I eat plain bread, cheese bread, garlic bread/breadsticks, etc. Nothing with chunks inside or seeds and other hard things on top. I like the banana bread from the recipe my mother and I both use, too. (Actually, I make it better than she does 'cause I use a different cooking oil - hers is too dry and I always choke on it. Mine is just right.)
Cresent Rolls - Yes, those are delish!
Fish Sticks - No; nothing meat or fish.
chocolate cake - For sure!!
But cannot eat cakes that have most fillings (i.e. fruit filling) and such.
fruit roll up or fruit snack - Never could eat the roll-ups, but as a kid I ate certain flavour(s) of the thick fruit snacks (I think the grape ones that were shaped like a bunch of grapes).
brownie-chocolate - Chocolate definitely. I'm not the biggest brownie fan, but I will eat it. There is a FUDGEY brownie mix out there that is fabulous, though!
chocolate pudding - Yes, as well as the chocolate/vanilla mix Jell-O brand puddings in the pudding cups. My favorite is Jell-O brand Cookies & Cream pudding that you make at home (most of the Oreos in them are mixed small enough that they aren't chunky - they are also very much so softened by the Jell-O).
Pizza/ Pizza Rolls - I've never tried pizza rolls; I don't think they were around when I was a kid. See way above for pizza.
Almost any kind of sandwich - No. Only grilled cheese and when I was a kid I ate peanut butter sandwiches (no jelly).
Salad (yes,can you believe) - No, as that's yet another texture I cannot tolerate and gag at.
some Fruits - I can eat apples, pears, and bananas.
Muffins (blueberry are his favorite) - Only apple cinnamon muffins. Used to like corn muffins (only the kind without chunks of corn in them), but not anymore.
Hard boiled eggs - No, no kind of egg. (Eggs as an ingredient in cookies, cakes, and everything like that is fine. Just cannot eat eggs as a food - texture, look, etc.)
Hashbrowns - No.
Grapes - I can sometimes eat only the seedless green ones, but haven't in a long time. I can sometimes eat raisins.
Dried Cranberries - No.
String Cheese - No. Not canned fake cheese, either.
Gogurts - Have never tried one, but they look/sound nasty from what I saw on TV!
french toast - No. I'll occassionally eat regular toast. I also like lightly toasted plain bagels with butter (no cream cheese, jelly, peanut butter, or any other toppings). I'll also eat plain bagels and cinnamon swirl bagels plain and whole (not cut into halves).
Dannon yogurt smoothie - I think I tried a drink like that once and I couldn't drink it.
Sunny-D - I do like the original kind (in the plastic bottles, not the kid pouches).
chips & salsa - Yes, but not if the fresh salsa has lots of greenery in it (which is why I like hot Tostitos salsa best). I cannot eat anything that has been garnished with greenery (basil, parsley, etc.) - sometimes restaurants don't get it, which is quite annoying, especially when you did take out and are already home! I also like Tostitos chips with cheddar cheese sauce (the plain kind, not the kind with jalapeno pepper chunks in it).
english muffin - No.
Cookies - Some, like chocolate chip, Oreo, Keebler with chocolate in the middle or drizzled on top, etc. I also love Immaculate Bakery's Sweet Georgia Brownies (chocolate cookies with I think dark, milk, and white chocolate chips in it) and Apple Oatmeal Crunch (I think it is called - oatmeal cookies with bits of apple in them).
Chocolate donuts - Yes, I like Dunkin' Donuts' chocolate glazed and chocolate frosted doughnuts (unless they have sprinkles on them - cannot eat them with sprinkles on them) as well as Entenmann's Devil's Food Crumb doughnuts (and Devil's Food Crumb cakes). I also like Dunkin' Donuts' honey dew and strawberry frosted doughnuts (okay, that makes two strawberry-flavoured things I can eat, then).
soft pretzels - Oh yum! Did you know you can buy them frozen in the grocery store and microwave them one at a time for a snack? I have to have the pretzel salt on mine and love it with mustard on top, too.
popcorn - Yes, buttered or cheddar microwave popcorn (or buttered with one of a few flavour packets I tried once) as well as Smartfood white cheddar popcorn.
Additional things I can think of:
Pop-Tarts - Only the frosted cinnamon ones.
Peanuts - Salted.
Granola and similar type bars - Some, like South Beach Living's peanut butter bars. I also used to eat Kudos peanut butter bars and Quaker Oats' chocolate chip bars (just don't buy those anymore).
Chocolate bars - Some chocolate things were mentioned, but I want to say that white chocolate is my favorite. I also like milk and dark chocolate, of course. ReeseStix are my favorite candy bar (though I can't find them anymore) with White Chocolate Reese's Peanut Butter Cups my second favorite. I also enjoy Kit-Kats, M&Ms, Crunch, and some other bars. Nothing with coconut in it, though.
That's all I can think of, though there may be a few more items I can eat that I'm not thinking of. Note that I do not eat all of those on a regular basis. And, of course, different foods shouldn't touch and there needs to be a new, clean utensil for each different food. (I have OCD, too. Amoung several other things.)
I know you want to know if I have added foods over the years and, if so, how many. I have added a few. Not nearly as many as a normal child who is just a picky eater and becomes a normal adult, of course, but a few.
No, it isn't something you grow out of when it is neurological (like SPD and Autism), but there may be small steps taken to include a few more foods (or types of same foods, like different cheeses or types of pasta). Yes, there may be foods you stop eating along the way.
Yes, you get the comments and stares and non-understanding ppl, but you get used to it. You have to do what you have to do in order to eat something in most places you go (sometimes avoiding eating there is what has to be done and you'll eat when you get home or get to a snack machine or something, but an adult ordering a grilled cheese sandwich or off the kids' menu at a restaurant is something you have to get used to and not care what others think in their closed minds). Sometimes it is okay to say you are allergic to an ingredient (like green garnishes) so they are (hopefully) sure to not use it, as the waitstaff and cooks don't understand that you cannot physically eat something.
If you have any other questions, including if I eat a particular thing or not (may have forgotten to put it on the list above), I'd be happy to answer them for you!
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(like mom like daughter
. I'm sure that this has some influence on their not being particular about what they eat. I am grateful that they eat healthy.
A valuable lesson, but one which would have sent me to vegetarian-land if I was a child.
