quackademicWhat if this approach is seriously arse about. And we can do better.
#Hypersensitivity to and #avoidance of certain flavours & textures is part of our #sensory profile for many #ActuallyAutistic folks. As with all of our sensory issues, the ways we devise to deal with them come at a cost, socially, emotionally & physically. Being pressured to let go of strategies that have protected us can feel life threatening. Especially if we don’t understand where they’ve come from & how they’ve helped us (hard to do when our various unusual behaviours are examined in isolation from each other & each set pathologised with an unhelpful diagnosis).
In my experience, we can change the habits & routines that protect us only when (i) we feel safe & (ii) it is our choice to do so. In our own ways, at our own speed, on our own terms. This profound need for autonomy gets pathologised as ‘demand avoidance’ but it’s another manifestation of the strategies for survival that we develop & cling to for dear life. Take this from me & I will die.
How about, for kids & adults ‘with #ARFID’, we approached interventions by starting with respect for autonomy. This means learning about how this person experiences sensory pleasures & discomforts around eating & taking them seriously. Then developing options for change that can be chosen by that person, or not. At their own pace.
It worked for me. As in so many areas of my life, this is the only approach that does.
Like so many folx who grew up undiagnosed I learned to be ashamed of my struggles (in denial about them, intolerant of their manifestation in others) & embarrassed about my gifts. Wish I’d understood my #neurodivergence, & that of my family members, when I was parenting kids.
So glad we can do better now. I wish the support systems whose funding rests on adopting pathologising diagnostic categories would catch up!!
@actuallyautistic #AutisticElder #AutisticParent #disability
Murdoc Addams 🧛🏻
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Kevin Davy