After taking a bite of corn picked from the backyard which had a flavor and texture which was both unexpected and offensive, to the point where I could not swallow and had to immediately spit it out.... I'm reminded of how food was such a point of anxiety for me as a child, vegetables especially.

I hated eating apart from my parents as a child. My parents had endured enough dinnertime related meltdowns to know not to press when it came to new foods if they wanted to have a peaceful dinnertime, but other relatives and other people's parents were a nightmare. I never knew what seemingly nice adult was going to turn into a bully on me at dinnertime and try to force a vegetable and refuse to take 'no' for an answer. Even worse if there were peers who didn't have food aversions and were accustomed to rules like "you must try a bite of everything on your plate" who would join in with their peer pressure. I don't know how many meltdowns I had as a kid due to being afraid to eat a food an an adult taking it to be a power struggle.

It took me until well into my 20s to be able to expand my palate to include more vegetables than just raw bell peppers and celery, and even still.... I have a hard time considering most vegetables food because of days like today, when I bit into something and it wasn't quite right.

#ActuallyAutistic #FoodAversion @actuallyautistic