Skip to content
Pexels copyright free image - boy playing with food

Supporting Neurodiversity

If your child is neurodiverse – perhaps they have autism or struggle with hypersensitivity in some form – then we know that convincing them to try new foods, particularly veg, can present challenges. 

Trying New Veg

Trying new veg can feel like a challenge for any parent.

For those whose families include neurodiverse children, sometimes the traditional advice doesn’t seem like enough. We receive masses of questions about how to support children with autism and neurodiverse sensitivity to food.

So, we have pulled together an outstanding expert advisory group to bring you the best advice for each of our core themes, recipes and tips, including expert David Rex RD, a specialist dietitian working to improve the diet of children with autism and ADHD.

David has gathered some of his best advice from years of experience on how best to help neurodiverse children to try new veg, which could change the way your child looks at veggies for the better!

1

Less is more!

Modelling and opportunity are the safest and most effective way to introduce a vegetable into the diet. Persuasion and coaxing, especially with young autistic children, is well intentioned but almost always hardens the resistance. Instead, modelling without offering can make vegetables the irresistible “forbidden fruit”.

2

Tap into their interests

Many autistic children have a special interest that’s important to them. If a particular vegetable is linked in some way with this special interest; it is more likely to be accepted or even loved. This could be a favourite hobby, TV character or computer game. For example, if your child loves The Gruffalo, why not try building a “deep dark forest” or a “Gruffalo crumble” from veg.

3

Avoid over-generalising

Autistic children often have a tendency to “generalise” differently to neurotypical children. This means that sometimes they “overgeneralise”. For example, eating something an adult labelled as a “Vegetable” or as “Healthy” and finding it unpleasant, can lead a child to decide anything in that category must be unpleasant! Changing what you choose to call it can help change the mindset. Remember though that lying about what a food is can lead to a loss of trust of course, so balance creative naming of a vegetable with honesty if you are asked a straight question. Perhaps try naming specific veg (“we are eating carrots”) rather than using “vegetables” more generally, or  work together to come up with fun names for different veg based on special interests or the colour and texture (“we are eating a crunchy orange sweet food” or “we are eating Hulk-coloured mini trees”).

4

Focus on texture

How food feels may be more important than how it tastes – texture is often a more common barrier than taste. Keeping vegetables raw or only slightly cooked but still crunchy often means the texture is closer to the crunchy foods many autistic children prefer.

5

Keep foods separate

Keeping food separate can be very helpful. Some autistic children prefer a plate with divided sections so that they can be sure one food doesn’t mix with or “contaminate” another. Even a dish we might normally eat in mixed form like pasta bolognese or cereal with milk may be better accepted when the components of the meals are served separately. Perhaps serve components individually and let them “build their own” meals. And if they are not fans of chunkier textures, try blending soups and sauces so the texture is more uniform!

 

6

Aim for consistency

Many children prefer highly processed foods not just because of how they taste or feel, but because they are highly predictable. Every potato waffle is exactly the same shape for example. It is often helpful to provide vegetables with a very consistent shape and size. You can’t always control for natural variation in taste and texture of course but control what you can.

7

Use a visual menu

To help with acceptance, a visual menu can provide concrete reassurance of what meals and snacks are to be offered on each day of the week. This is part of making food more predictable. So remember, if you said “Fish fingers and peas”, don’t suddenly change it without warning for sweetcorn.

8

Routines and rituals

At times autistic children can be highly ritualised around the conditions required for them to eat a meal. If a child has eaten a vegetable in a particular setting from a particular person cut into a particular shape, it may not make sense if one of these things is changed. That’s not to say they won’t learn to accept that food in a wider range of circumstances over time, of course, so it’s always worth continuing to try!

9

Use descriptive words

If they are able to, ask your child to give you some words that describe the taste, smell or texture of their favourite foods. This will help you both think through which new foods might have some of the same characteristics and might be worth a try. For example, someone who likes sweet and crunchy, might be more likely to eat a raw carrot. If your child is unable to communicate clearly through speech, you could try using visual cue cards for words like “crunchy”, “soft”, etc.

10

Lean into science

Some older autistic children will respond well to knowing why something is important. A clear, “matter of fact” scientific explanation of how vegetables keep us healthy can be more effective with some autistic children than with a neurotypical child.

11

Keep a food scrapbook

Many autistic children have phases of eating something for a while and then stopping. This can be frustrating. If your child refuses a previously accepted and enjoyed vegetable, you will be concerned if they decide against it on a particular day. It’s important at this point to accept their view rather than being drawn into any persuasion or coaxing. Have a break from that food for a while perhaps.“Capturing” that food by taking a picture and adding it to a food scrap book can be helpful. The child can look back at their food book and remind themselves of a food they haven’t eaten for a while.

David Rex RD

Dave Rex has worked as a Specialist Dietitian for Autistic children in the Highlands of Scotland for the last 20 years. He also leads on public health nutrition in Highland schools. Prior to this he worked as Food Policy Advisor in Sandwell; as a Dietitian in Sandwell and Nottingham; and as a food Chemist in the crisp and snack industry. Dave is also a regular contributor to conferences run by the Food and Behaviour Research Charity. He has a degree in Chemistry and Food Science from Reading University, a Post Graduate diploma in Nutrition and Dietetics from Leeds Metropolitan University; and a Masters in Food Policy from City University.

Dietitian, Health & Social Care

DO you have a question you’d like one of our experts to help you with?
Send us a question
Simply Veg Sun & Girl

SIMPLY VEG

Need to get your kids eating more veg?

Our only goal is to help parents and carers serve up affordable, simple food their families will love. We know that takes more than a few recipes, so we've got all the hacks and advice you'll need. Join now. It's 100% free and 100% simple.

*Required fields