Seonsory perception/processing disorder

I've been speaking to a few eating disorder specialist via email and phone recently about my 4&1/2 yo son's absolutely HORRID eating. I have a list of foods.... possibly 10, that he eats and nothing else. He doesn't try new things, he refuses to hold slimy/squirmy things, has a few other issues listed on the checklists that I have been researching for a few years.
He has been this way since 14 months of age and his diet has not changed at all since then.

After speaking to Eating Disorders Victoria who put me in touch with the RCH who has been speaking with a child Psych and dietition and OT, they were hard pressed to actually give his food aversion a proper name but believed his main issues to be sensory, which is what I have thought all along but been given the "it's a phase, he'll grow out of it" speech for the past 3 years.

I've been given several numbers for services and people to talk to about my son (we live rather rurally and have no idea of the 'local' (anything outside Melbourne) help that we can access.

Whilst I know he has not been diagnosed and googling things is clearly NOT the best way to go about it, I was just wondering if anyone else's children suffer this? Next week I will be contacting a psych I was given the number on and has a very detailed email about my son. I will also be contacting the 'local' hospital's Child and adolescent health unit.

If anyone has any advice, knows of any country vic specialists in this area or has anything at all they can suggest I'd be very appreciative. After more than 3 years on this merry go round I'm just pleased to have people finally listening to me.

I will update his foods list and peculiar behaviours in the coming days... I'm rather ill myself at the moment.

I am not by any means an expert nor do I have a child with eating issues, however my gf son did have severe excema and allergies and this impacted greatly on his eating - types of foods etc... did your son have any of those issues? Just wondering b/c given my gf sons issues, he really has a difficult time eating anything new/some textures etc... and he is a sensitive child but doesn't have sensory issues (from what I know)

Tell us more about his personality and behaviour in general. Sensory issues are symptomatic of a few different issues. Will it help you feel better if you have a label or would that just make it worse?

Definitely need to speak with a psych and discuss the issues in detail - and try not to go in with any pre conceptions. Just tell the psych everything and see what he/she says. You could also go to a paediatrician and get a medical checkup to see if there are any physical reasons for his behaviour. Probably worth doing both.

DS has a lot of sensory issues and a very restricted diet. DS has about a dozen other big issues though, he has autism so this year will be tackling the big ones to ready him for school.

My DS is the same. He does not like to try new things, has all of about 6-10 foods he'll eat only and it's driving my DH crazy.
He's being booked in to see speech therapists and OTs (he's 2y2m and still not talking except for mumum and buba) so if I find anything out myself, I'll post what we find out


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - even though I should be cleaning or sleeping ;)

Thanks everyone.

It's not only the eating that has made me think about him having sensory issues, I know there is a lot more to it than the foods he eats. He always had 'quirks'. Things he's done that DD has never done. Things he hasn't done that DD and other children do.
The freak outs when he touches slimy things. His toe walking. His massive fear of being lifted high, or being tipped upside down etc. There are quite a few items on the checklists I've found and whilst I think if he did happen to have something like this, I believe it would be very mild.

He is a very intelligent little man, as suggested several times by his kinder teacher. He has the most amazing memory. He's a very loving little boy and cares about everyone around him (also mentioned by his teacher). This is what makes me question a lot of things aswell.

Whilst a label may help us to understand his issues, it's really not the be all and end all for us. Even if it's not specifically this disorder and just that he has some sensory issues, that will certainly help us understand his 'fussiness' for lack of a better word. My main concern is his eating as it's affecting his growth.

I DO understand that he quite possibly doesn't have this. I'm not silly and I'm certainly not a doctor. I DO know that he has some sensory issues. I want the best for my son. I believe in educating myself to know about ALL of the options and I like to have some knowledge before I go into it with the professionals. I'm certainly not saying he HAS SPD and leaving it at that.

All this thread was for, was for a little bit of info that I may not have known, or perhaps some more in-depth information about SPD that I could look at that might actually make me think 'hang on... that might not be it'.

Thanks for your replies. :) I do appreciate them.

I agree with you, that the label helps understanding and management of an issue, but it's not everything - but I find that some parents find the label very confronting. The problem with an SPD label (IMO) is that as it is often a component of a more significant issue that may not get diagnosed as the focus can be on the sensory issues alone, rather than looking at the whole child. As Rocking Baker mentioned for her son, there are some characteristics of Autism in his behaviour that may be worth looking into as well.

but more importantly it's about learning to manage the behaviours/issues ;) so hopefully you can get some advice on strategies - and as children with autism have lots of sensory issues, there may be some strategies that you could use whether or not your child ends up with a diagnosis or not. The strategies are often helpful for all children.

There is a great website which has some training and strategies on the Positive Partnerships in Autism website - that you could use and adapt perhaps. Also I agree with the others an Occupational Therapist will be able to help with understanding and managing the sensory issues as well. Probably worth organising appointments with psych, ot and paediatrician all at the same time, because it can take a while to get appointments and they will (most likely) want the opinion of each other anyway so you will be getting in quicker if you book in with all of them at the same time.

best of luck - I hope you get some answers and can help him build some tolerance to different foods. xx

With regard to labels, for us it was a blessing! There is so much help for ASD now that DS sees an OT fortnightly, a speech therapist weekly (A has under 20 words at 3.5yrs), he gets Inclusion Support at daycare and goes to special school 2 days a week all using his Helping Children With Autism funding or free through the government.

OT is invaluable when it comes to working through any sensory issues your LO might have :)

My son is a resistant eater and it's terrifying thinking what is happening to their body with such limited nutrition. Our son was eating less than 10 foods for a long time and it was down to less than 5 just before we put him on the GAPS diet. That wasn't easy, as I'm sure you would understand!

Yeddi posted this about resistant eaters in the chat thread ages ago:

Resistant Eaters
What is a resistant eater? Many parents of children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder will describe their child as being a ‘fussy’ eater. However, often the child will not necessarily be a fussy eater, but more of a resistant eater. The child will resist or refuse certain foods often based on their sensory characteristics e.g. colour of food, texture, temperature, position of food on plate etc. Resistant eaters might also be affected by environmental issues e.g. seating position, background noise etc. Resistant eaters may also over-respond to being presented with certain/new foods e.g. may gag, become distressed by just visually seeing a certain food. Children may also become quite distressed or anxious about mealtimes.

How do I know if my child is a resistant eater?

Characteristics of a Resistant Eater
Resistant eaters often exhibit one or more of the following:
- Limited food selection (10-15 foods or less).
- Limited food groups (refuses one or more food groups).
- Anxiety/tantrums/gag when presented with new foods.
- Require consistent foods presented in the same way served at every meal.

It is important to first rule out other issues that may be related to a child being resistant to eating certain foods e.g. gastrointestinal discomfort such as reflux, inability to sit independently, oral motor issues such as problems with sucking and swallowing.

Activities & Suggestions for Resistant Eaters/Mealtime Strategies
• First try to work out what your child is finding distressing about mealtimes. Is it thesensation of the food or an environmental issue such as bright lights or loud noises? Or both?
• Slowly introduce food that has the same sensory characteristics as what the child is currently tolerating e.g. if the child likes crunchy foods, introduce other crunchy foods; if the child eats white food, introduce other white foods etc.
• Let your child play with food during non-mealtimes. Let them have fun playing with it and making a mess during play times. Let them explore the food in a safe and
non-confronting way.
• Introduce new foods slowly. The child needs to be able to cope with food being in their environment and on their plate, before it is presented to them to eat.
• Limit snack times and bottles of milk throughout the day so that your child is
hungrier at mealtimes.
• Use visuals to help support trying new foods e.g. First/Then board to encourage child to have one bite/spoon of something new before being given preferred meal/food.
• Use a social story about trying new foods (depending on the child’s comprehension level).
• Encourage the child to help prepare meals e.g. stirring, mashing etc.


References: Ernsperger, L., Stegen-Hanson, T. (2004). Just Take a Bite; Easy, effective answers to food aversions and eating challenges.

Thank you everyone for your replies and to the AMAZING person who has emailed me.
Today I called my local CAMHS and spoke to triage, who suggested going BACK to my GP and getting a pediatrician referral. The pediatrician will then do some assessments and the triage person said he's pretty confident that DS would be referred back to them, but without those assessments I'd be run around in circles for a while, so even though it feels like a huge step backwards (going back to the GP), it will make things move faster ultimately. The triage bloke also mentioned the spectrum several times even though I'd only mentioned 2 of his quirks, so I'm confident that there will be some form of diagnosis that we can work with.

I also spoke to a child Psych who is calling my tomorrow afternoon for a discussion. She knows about my son (my RCH contact had emailed and spoken to her about him) and wants to go through it with me a little more.

I'm so relieved that I'm finally being heard. It's been a tough few years and probably a little of the stress of it didn't help my mental state, but to finally have things happening is just amazing. I'm scared for my son and what may come of this, but also really hopeful that it will help him. It can't hurt to seek advice and I know that there is something "not quite NORMAL" with his behaviour. If he's on the spectrum, he's on the spectrum. He's super smart, loving and amazing really and I love him to pieces. He is who he is supposed to be and there is nothing 'wrong' with him, he just processes and understands things a little differently to the majority.
I do feel a little guilty for letting this go on for so long. I'm desperate to know that I haven't done anything wrong by him and that he is in fact, healthy and happy.
I know things can only get better from here. I want the best for my little man, for both of my kids and sitting on my hands is not giving them the best.

Thanks again for your replies. I will let you know how we get on.