My son Noah
just turned five. At 60+ pounds, he is taller than most 7-year-olds
and does not look malnourished. Like many a preschooler, he is
annoyingly fussy not only about what he eats, but how and where food
is presented. But unlike the "typical" preschooler, Noah's
hyperlexia-related sensitivities to smells, temperature, textures and
tastes, tendency toward phobias and difficulty grasping verbal
negotiation has made meals more challenging.
When Noah was an infant, I learned to chill his bottles as other parents warmed theirs. As a toddler, Noah had a large appetite, yet seemed oblivious to hunger or thirst. He could go all day without apparent need for food or drink, or devour several meals within a few hours given the "right" foods. At 2-1/2 during a brief daycare stint, he ate off other children's plates and forced on them anything he didn't like.
He refused to taste or even sniff anything unfamiliar, and panicked if "objectionable" foods were not removed from his sight immediately. To make matters worse, he didn't like typical kiddie fare, preferring cappuccino yogurt, tofu or cottage cheese mixed into apple-sauce while spurning such "sure hits" as soups, mashed potatoes, pop, toast, pastas and rice. Sometimes his preferences seemed completely illogical. For instance, he loved ice cream and crunching on ice cubes, but refused popsicles or freezies. In addition, he balked at unfamiliar combinations. Thus, he adored either peanut butter or jelly sandwiches, but never "peanut butter and jelly" together.
Since then, he has come a long way though certain "quirks" remain. Pungent aromas - particularly spices or herbs - still distress him. He still gets agitated if unfamiliar foods appear without prior warning, but can be persuaded to try more and has widened his food repertoire considerably. He can get "stuck" on specific brand names or flavours, but is "weaned" readily. Finally, his ability to feel hunger and thirst has improved, though is still uneven in intensity.
Getting Noah to "try new foods" has been an ongoing project. It seems that many other parents with hyperlexic children have similar concerns. Our most successful technique has been the "Food Balloons" method described below:
First, we wrote out some positively-phrased "table rules" together, including things already mastered, such as "Noah will take his cup and plate to the sink when finished eating". Then, we added: First, Noah will try the new food. Then, he will decide if it is good, ok or yucky. We posted the rules on the kitchen wall and read them together often without forcing the "new foods" bit.
We then cut 10 - 15 "balloon" shapes from coloured bristol board, and printed names of specific "new foods", one per balloon. We found being concise but visually descriptive worked best - for instance, "butterscotch ice-cream on a cone" was better than "ice-cream". If we added pictures, we had to avoid over-association of brand names (e.g. Noah refused ginger ale because it lacked the "Canada Dry" label on the picture). We stuck the balloons on the kitchen wall nearest Noah's seat and explained that these were new foods he would soon try. Then, we allowed him to read and re-read the balloons for a week or two without doing anything more.
The day before introducing a food, we moved its balloon closer, explaining this was tomorrow's new food. We treated the new food as a very natural, expected event the next day, and re-read the "table rules" together. To our surprise, he tasted with little if any resistance. We put a sticker on the balloon, explaining that when it had 3 stickers, it would "fly" away to form a "whole bunch of balloons". We presented that food several times over the next few days to "imprint" the tolerance, treating the sticker as a marker rather than a reward (e.g. we didn't remove it even if he refused another trial), placing one each time food touched tongue, even if spit out. Since Noah feared the "tasting" part most, this was the step to conquer.
We staggered the introduction of various new foods. Each time a balloon accumulated 3 stickers, it was "flown" to the other wall with great ceremony and fanfare, attaching a coloured ribbon to its base and began clustering the balloons and ribbons until they formed a real "bunch". We transferred filled "bunches" to bristol board, complete with title: "New Foods That Noah Tried". While some balloons never did get to "fly" (such as broccoli and cauliflower, even with cheese sauce), most made the journey and many have become favourites since. If food tolerance is an issue in your family, perhaps this idea will assist you as it did us.
