Are all people with autism picky about food

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Hershey's chocolate smells like

My icks include most vegetables, some fruits, and squash.

I didn't think I was. But I hate baked beans. Until my diagnosis I thought it was just a PTSD-type thing from having been habitually fed them as a child (because they're cheap, filling, and kids like them).

Turns out it's a texture thing. I identified with Gareth from 'The Office' and his issues with jelly - 'I don't trust the way it moves'. A lot of autistic people probably didn't find that sketch funny - I actually ended up finding it reassuring.

Not ALL autistic people are picky about food, but many of us are. (There is no specific trait that we ALL have in common, just general categories of traits.)

There are a lot of common foods I strongly dislike. Bananas. Strawberries. Mayonnaise. Anything containing noticeable amounts of vinegar (but ketchup is okay).

I strongly dislike most salad dressings, and prefer to use plain lemon juice or grapefruit juice on salad instead.

Most sweets are too sweet for me, although there are a few sweet things I do like.

I also dislike baked beans and lima beans, especially the latter, due to their texture.

I can't stand carbonated beverages, or anything that fizzes in my mouth and throat. Fizz makes me gag.

I can't stand alcoholic beverages either. So my food aversions have saved me from some potential bad habits.

I am known for my wierd eating habits among friends and family

I'm not picky. I am utilitarian towards food. I eat a limited diet simply because I have no interest in cooking/food prep, so I eat easy to prepare, inexpensive food that doesn't taste bad. I can be in and out of the grocery store quickly (always a plus) because I get the same items each time. I take daily vitamin supplements to make sure those bases are covered.

I could live off of pizza without ever getting bored of it, but that's not the same as being picky.

Myself and my sister are both autistic. She's VERY picky, and I'm the opposite. I have a texture issue with some foods, but for the most part I'll eat any sort of conventional meal even if it's a little bland. My parents are far pickier than I am and they are both NTs, which leaves me being the only one in my immediate family who's happy to eat almost anything.

How do you guys / girls feel about veggies? Veggies are super bland, and I'd imagine many people who are picky may not like them because of that? I'd like to pick into the picky person's mind... hahaha...

I am not picky about food. Food doesn't have to taste good, I'll eat pretty anything as long as it's healthy to eat.

I am extremely picky. I'm very sensitive to texture, smell, and sight. I have a very sensitive gag reflex to all of that. That gag reflex can be triggered by a food I normally like being prepared even slightly off from how I normally consume it.

This is not fun. Up until now I thought it was just a quirk of mine, but now that I'm exploring likely being autistic it may be a sensory issue. Interesting.

Wow I had to check that I hadn’t posted this !

It’s so me

There was a sports presenter on the radio last night and he explained that he has an anxiety disorder where he has to be in control of what he consumes ..

Anyways for decades he’s only eaten cereals or bread / pasta . NEVER any fruit or vegetables or meat / fish ! !! !


He did add that he had a strict regime of vitamins and minerals/suppliments that basically kept him alive ! !


He sounded such an intelligent, grounded guy and yet his diet seems completely crazy

I don't like mushrooms, cream sauces, cottage cheese, processed cheese, beans of any kind, berries any kind of cheese except orange cheddar and mozzarella.

Wow, I'm not alone. Thank you for sharing that. I started to feel like some strange specimen, reading people on the internet talk about autism. I have mostly sensory issues as symptoms, not social issues, and I don't really feel like it's well understood in online autistic communities. Someone even thought that my need for routine means I have intellectual disability and a low IQ, because I don't "understand" according to them, which is very obviously not true. It has little to do with intellectual understanding, it has to do with sensory issues, poor interoception, hyperfocus etc.

As for food, I stick to a limited number of foods that don't give me issues. Apart from gluten intolerance, I stick to a rather non-controversial and traditional diet. My other issues include IBS and allergies, hypoglycemia, frequent nausea. ("Bad" food can result in vomiting and diharrea)

"How do you guys / girls feel about veggies?"
I like many of them, but hate others and they have to be boiled, not raw. Raw = bloated stomach and nausea, because they feel tickly in the throat.

I'm not a picky eater in terms of tolerance. Not many typical foods would nauseate me. But I do have fairly strong preferences and usually find only one or two appealing dishes on a restaurant menu. But overall I can eat a wide variety of food.

My son is quite picky. For him, it's more a matter of tolerance than preference. He has recently expanded his palate a little to better fit in with his friends (most of them have ASD, but apparently aren't quite as picky as he is), but I think he'll always be picky. He doesn't have any issues about food types touching each other or eating in a certain order.

Stereotype - not ALL people on the spectrum are picky about food. I'm not - I'll try just about anything.

SOME people on the spectrum are very picky restrictive eaters and will only eat like 3 different usually unhealthy convenience BS food-like products; but they seem to be a small minority of people on the spectrum.