In a way we are lucky - Liam only regularly eats about 10 - 15 foods regularly and he is fearful of trying new things so its a fight to get him to try anything... but that works in our favor when trying to keep an eye on his diet. He won't take food from anyone other than us, his babysitter and his teacher. It needs to look a certain way, and usually be in a certain container, so we know that he's not getting food he shouldn't.
But he's a child of routine and the biggest one is that he won't grocery shop without a cookie.. and he needs to think its from the bakery at Publix or the bin at Harris Teeter.. so we now carry a cookie with us, drive the cart (the race car one of course) through the bakery section and whip out a gluten free cookie and carry on our way... again, not a big deal, but when you forget.... wow!
The one thing my sweet little guy has is a fabulous memory - if we turn onto the wrong street or drive by someplace he thinks he should be, or worse drive to his school when its not time for class... he lets us know... He knows to start pitching a fit when we turn off Bees Ferry onto the side street before Walmart, cause he hates the big W, he knows if we're going to pick up daddy and there is too much traffic on bridge A and I detour to the other bridge, and he KNOWS when he should be getting his cookie at Publix and WHERE...
At our Publix, the Gluten Free section is on the complete other side of the store from the bakery and that's not a problem 90% of the time, but when we forgot the cookie and he pitched the fit, we had to go that way... the wails got louder and louder... we got there and I broke the 2nd commandment of shopping - don't open packages... and tried to hand him the coveted cookie...
He pushed it away, screamed louder and threw himself to the floor of the cart. I took advantage of the lack of sight, drove the cart back to the bakery and handed him the same cookie... and silence reigned...
Routine is crucial to kids with autism... and now I know just how crucial it is at Publix
