Children on the autism spectrum are not known for having the most diverse palate. Generally speaking, they will find a few foods they are comfortable with, such as chicken nuggets, and show little to no interest in most other foods. There have been plenty of meals where we've put pasta, meat, or vegetables in front of Curtis that have been rejected out of hand because of texture, appearance, or any number of other reasons. We rarely won the "eat it or go hungry" stand-off. He was willing to go hungry without thinking twice. But times they are a changing and tonight Curtis was willing to give Mexican food a shot. Specifically, he wanted to try a quesadilla, or as he knows it from Napoleon Dynamite, a "dang quesadilla". Hopefully this is just the start of a willingness to keep trying something new. Even if he did just more or less nibble the edges.

Greg, Dad
Jamie, 1:1 Home Support

Believe it not that this is Curtis’ reaction to what he now calls his favorite cupcake shop. When I met Curtis a few years ago he had a pretty short list of foods that he would eat. Not only was the list short but things had to be prepared in specific ways. It took me about a year and a half before I could manage to pull together an acceptable peanut butter and jelly sandwich. One day Curtis was eating an ice cream cone at McDonald's while I had an M&M blizzard when I plopped an M&M on top of his ice cream cone. Curtis looked at me like I had lost my mind and ate all the way around the ice cream cone without going near the M&M. Today, with a great deal of work from everyone around him, Curtis has expanded his pallet exponentially. One thing that I think made this a little easier was letting Curtis pick his own food.
By picking his own food I mean literally going to the strawberry patch and picking a strawberry. Once Curtis realized that he liked strawberries it was a natural jump to go blueberry picking a few weeks later. Curtis is a pretty big fruit fanatic so it wasn’t a big leap for him to like these foods as well. ( fruits at supermarket, supermarket in general) This may just be my perception, but it seems as though Curtis is more open to this in the summer. Perhaps it's because he doesn’t have the demands associated with the school year. This summer Curtis tackled vegetables in a big way. It became a little ritual on Wednesday mornings to go to the farmers market and get some berries. One day they had a mix of blueberries and raspberries so I grabbed that rather than our usual plain blueberries. I also grabbed a couple of honey sticks at the register. Curtis was a little upset with my raspberry mix but I was able to convince him to try them. I also got him to try the honey stick, which was another hit. Feeling bold I asked if he would want to try a cucumber. I let him choose which one he wanted and we headed home. I cut the cucumber into circles and sprinkled salt on it tell Curtis it was almost like a pickle. Upon first bite he looked disappointed, but after that first bite, I couldn’t stop him. Laura ran with the veggie trend from here getting him red, orange, yellow and green peppers, all of which were instant hits. Curtis has tried a few more things since his new found love of vegetables developed this summer: purple peppers, corn on the cob, birthday cake pops from Starbucks, iced coffee (I knew he wouldn’t like it but would
also never ask me again so I let him.), many different ice cream flavors, frozen hot chocolate, celery (which he chewed up and swallowed despite the horrible reaction.) and ranch dip. None of these last few things really stuck but the important thing is that Curtis is now able to take that leap and try new foods.

Jamie, 1:1 Home Support

He's right of course, it isn't, but most of us see the value in rounding increments of time. Not so much for Curtis. The time on the clock is the time so call it what it is. It's here and other places that we choose our battles. He will not eat a slice of pizza that has dangling cheese. He will not eat watermelon with seeds. Curtis won't eat his pb&j with even a slight bit of crust left on the bread. You won't budge, he won't eat. It's here and other places I will accept that I'm spoiling him if it means he will eat. The truth is, I have no idea what that dangling piece of cheese looks like in his head but I know it isn't good. Getting frustrated that he didn't see what I saw was a losing battle.

During Curt's kindergarten year he needed a virtual battle suit to go to school. He needed his watch, his Michael Jackson necklace, water bottle designating how much to drink, and his Curious George stuffed animal which rarely left his sight. It was my job to make sure he had all of these items and I would get a call if I missed one to retrieve it and get it to the school. I believe I was as good at this job as could be expected but these items were in motion, traveling between cars and we didn't have backups for all of them. Thankfully it was a short commute from the office to the school to get Curtis an item I missed so he could get on with his day. The only disappointment I felt was in missing one, like a goalie who let one get by. Comfortable is a relative term and for Curtis, comfortable means high maintenance for mom and dad. But we know a comfortable Curtis is a productive Curtis and so be it.

Greg, Dad