Autism and food sensitivity.
Autism and food sensitivity.
Hello good people of lemmy! I come to you today with a question. So I’ve been doing some research into whether or not I have ASD. One of the main ways I’ve been “diagnosing” myself is by looking back at my childhood and seeing if any symptoms line up. One that isn’t really matching up is the aversion to trying new foods.
I’ve always been really good at trying new foods. I’ve never had a problem with it, and if I’m in a restaurant I sometimes try to find new stuff to try out if it sounds good.
Could this be an indication that I might not be autistic? I do have other symptoms, albeit some are kinda mild.
I should also mention that while I do try new foods, once I’ve found what I like, I tend to just eat that one thing. For example, I get the same thing every time no matter where I go, if I know what I like.
Thanks!
In the diagnostic criteria for ASD in the DSM 5, eating the same foods every day is specifically listed as a symptom and matches up with what you’re describing. Not every autistic person has the same sensitivities, and some people on the spectrum are even sensory seeking and may enjoy things that would drive another person on the spectrum up the wall.
Keep in mind as well a lot of the descriptions of autistic behavior are focused on children, who are less able to mask than adults. So think about how you would have reacted to being presented with new foods at like 5-8 years old, not necessarily now.
And informally I would say that overthinking the hell out of the diagnostic criteria should itself count as a symptom, haha.
I don’t necessarily eat the same foods every day. Usually it’s just whatever my mom makes for dinner, and whatever I can get at work.
I do however know what I like, and if I’m at a grocery store picking out what I want to eat, I’ll typically just get the stuff I like.
In a restaurant I will always get the same thing. Pad thai at my local asian restaurant, Bacon cheeseburger (all the way) at five guys, etc.
There's a whole range of possible symptomatic 'quirks' autistic people have. I wouldn't go trying to determine "how autistic" you are in such a way.
If you go out of your way to try new foods, but settle in on the one thing you like and keep getting it, to me that would seem a little obsessive from both sides.
"I must try everything so I know the best one."
Most people would go "Hmm, what do I want tonight?" That's the 'normal'.
Me, I was very picky as a kid. Then I opened up my palate and tried a bunch of new things, surprising relatives who had known me my whole life.
Then I discovered I have serious sensitivities, which is probably why as a kid I stuck with just a few foods.
But in the end I don't know I am autistic. I'd just be surprised if I wasn't.
I'm not averse to trying new foods, but I have strong aversions to certain foods that I have tried. If I have a bad experience with one food, I will not be willing to try it again for a very long time, possibly ever. And if I have a good experience with one food, and it is easily available to me, it will remain in regular rotation for a very long time.
This is why an official diagnosis is helpful. ASD is a cluster of traits. And because it's a spectrum, anyone on it may or may not have any of the traits. It's about surpassing a certain threshold where it becomes clear you are neurodivergent to the point of it being a disorder and not merely having some quirks. This is also why those online quizzes aren't considered a substitute for diagnosis, even though those same quizzes are often used as diagnostic tools.
I try new foods.
Cooking however stresses me out. Having only 2 or 3 dishes as options to preprare calms that stress. Cause I know what to buy in what isle and how to prep.
Eating the same food all the time is just one example of repetitive and restrictive behaviors. You don't have to have that exact behavior, that trait could be manifesting in different ways. I'll try new foods and I don't like eating the same food day after day, but I do have a sort of weekly pattern. I like pizza on Fridays, etc. But overall my repetitive patterns manifest outside of eating, an example is that I listen to Seinfeld episodes as background noise on a daily basis. It's also okay for those patterns to change over your lifetime.
Food texture, temperature, taste, and presentation sensitivities are often symptoms of autism, yes. But any of those things, whether alone or in any combination, are not enough to diagnose yourself. I diagnosed myself after looking up the symptoms of ASD Level 1 on a reputable website (don't remember which atm) and seeing that a greatamy of them fit me to a tee: food sensitivities, walking on my tiptoes, echolalia (TV and Movie Talk big time), difficulty understanding nuance, difficulty reading sarcasm in people, and a lot of other. Then I took the RAADS-R test on AspieTests.org and found that I had very high numbers, well into the range of scores of people who had been diagnosed.
I got diagnosed last summer with ASD Level 1. I asked, "Are you sure?" and the diagnostician giggled a tiny bit and went "Uh...yah." 😂
Fun side note: I took the WAIS (Wexler Adult Intleligence Test) as part of the seven and a half hour testing. One of the parts of that test checked my Speeded Processing, which is essentially how fast a person thinks and processes information. My score was a 148 which is well into the 99.9th percentile.
This was incredibly validating and eye-opening for me; as long as I've been alive, I've been a ball of frustration with regards to how I interact with the rest of the world. And now I understand that I am just an incredibly fast thinker, and that knowledge was the impetus for me forcing myself to slow down and not expect more of people than they are able to give. My dad always told me that "everyone is doing the best they know how to do in this world", I understand now what he meant.
Another reason for me needing to slow myself down is that I have queered more than one relationship in my life due to thinking, speaking, and acting too fast. My relationships are immensely important to me, and I need to address my shortcomings if I wish to maintain them in the future.