... Autistic people eat only fried garbage? That doesn't seem exclusively neurodivergent to be honest. I know some have that thing about food textures, but...
It's more the fact these processed foodstuffs are absolutely held to the same flavour and manufacturing over and over and over. It's routine in food form
Don't get me wrong, pizza is great, fried chicken is great... but I'm an autist and I'm the opposite of a picky eater, and if I want quick/no prep food, I will snack on carrots, have a salad, eat some greek yogurt, apples or grapes or pickles or something, maybe trail mix.
This is more a 'I eat out of a microwave because I have no time or money or stress/planning capacity to meal plan and cook' kind of thing.
If I want something like pasta, I'll boil the noodles and fry up some jimmy dean sausage, toss the marinara into frying pan for the last few minutes, then grate a block of mozzerella over it.
Sure, I could just microwave some canned chef boyardee in 5 minutes... but it really only takes like 30 minutes to do it a bit more intensively, and it tastes waaaay better.
Untrue. I like certain fried garbage as comfort food when I need something to stabilize myself back to my routines, but that doesn't mean I only eat that. I keep a varied diet with tons of veggies (those with a texture/taste I can stand, and most of them raw, I prefer their taste over the cooked ones) and I try to keep my animal consumption to a minimum.
However... That plate has a lot of interesting textures to eat (but it's missing the mayo to dip them all, I can't stand fried garbage without a bit of mayo).
Also, the pizza is wrong. That kind of whatever topping it has is probably going to overwrite the rest of the flavours of the pizza.
Y'know, I have a big squeeze bottle of ketchup sitting in the fridge unopened. Several times I have thought, "this dinner could use a squirt of ketchup to dip into." But because it's just me, and I only ever use a little squirt, I always decide it's not worth starting the clock on that big jug. Probably silly because ketchup is famously long-lived, but better for me not to get all that sugar in my system anyway. Sometime when the kids are all home I'll have to plan a dinner that justifies breaking the seal.
Oh look. A bunch of shit my granddaughters claim they're going to eat, so I buy, but then they only take a couple of bites and announce that these don't taste the same as the ones mom gets.
A lot of autistic people lean towards eating ultra-processed foods because it's a predictable sensory experience. They might order a burger, but request no tomato/pickles. Or a pizza, but only cheese and pepperoni.
It follows that an autistic person might eat children's food into adulthood because it's what they know.
Of course not all autistic people are like this, but it's why a platter with dinosaur nuggets and spaghettio's would be called an autistic sampler.
He eats cheese pizza only, peanut butter, cereal, sometime yogurt, hamburgers sometimes, hot dogs, ham and cheese (but often not the bread), suprisingly buttered bread, toast and mostly food that comes in bar form. Granola bars and many of the variations of those. And of course ice cream, candy, and a variety of deserts.
What do you think would happen if you walked him through the process of cooking a burrito?
Ground beef, some cheese, salsa/mild hot sauce, sour cream, shredded iceberg lettuce, soft tortilla?
It sounds like he actually has a fair acceptable range of flavor and texture profiles... the good thing with like a burrito is that you can just basically eat all the parts of it individually.
My guess would be that the salsa/spicy sauce would be the most likely to offend...?
Or maybe if a burrito is a bit much, more like a quesadilla?
I did forget that he will eat some burrito/taco and quesedilla. But no spicey. He doesn want much more than meat, cheese, and sour creme. Sometimes he will eat terriaky chicken cut into small cubes in the form of a burrito. And sometimes he will eat plain rice, or plain pasta.
The fact is, he has eaten most things at least once with no issue. But then won't eat them again for no obvious reason. I think it is less about a problem with the specific food, and just that he has some flavor or texture in mind any given day, and he will only eat that. There are very few things he will eat consistently.
I ask because well, I'm autistic, though I am the opposite of a picky eater, I'll try anything at least once... but also I realize not all autistic people are the same.
Was trying to figure out if it was possible it was more of a texture/mouthfeel thing, certain flavor group, etc.
If I had to guess, based on all you've said, he doesn't like spicy, and he doesn't like ... basically meat that is substantial enough that you have to actually tear through some tissue, while chewing.
If he'll eat basically small chunks of meat... well pepperoni on a pizza, the slices are often large enough that you have to actually bite through the slices. So, maybe he'd be ok with sausage pizza, where the bits of sausage are fairly small?
That would be my main guess as to what the 'inexplicable' element of his tastes are... he can handle some hamburgers, because the meat patties are likely floppy enough that they're not difficult to chew apart, but I'm guessing if you gave him a rare steak, he'd hate it.
It might be useful to try to see how he'd respond to just like, bacon, at different levels of crispiness?
Also that and he seems averse to spicy. I remember spicy foods being essentially just mouth on fire pain as a kid, but I eventually grew into having a greater appreciation and tolerance for them.
I'd say that even a cured meat like pepperoni would also be what I'd call at least very slightly spicy... whereas teriyaki sauce, in the US at least, is basically extremely sweet and not spicy at all.
But also, as you say, yeah it very much could be that he basically has a specific kind of 'i want this kind of food / mouth experience today / now' in mind.
... if possible, maybe ask him, try to do like a meal plan system, a schedule? At least one meal a day is some kind of known in advance? Just having the structure might be helpful, basically just so it isn't surprising.
Whereas I feel called out. I eat all of these... Just not at the same time but its all my easy no effort meals. Except those waffle looking things, not sure what those are.
My autism will go into overdrive when eating this for bad reasons. There's nothing healthy on that plate. I need some veggies. Some nice tomato or cucumber slices, grilled eggplant or zucchini (why don't y'all just call it courgette smh). Maybe some mushrooms or something. Or pickles. One plate of veggies and then a little bit of the plate in the picture with a nice chunk of salmon, that'd do fine.
My husband is autistic and he hates cheese (pizza is the ONLY exception), noodles, soup, anything creamy, beans, pasta, etc. What does his sampler plate look like?
I can only identify half of this and the ones I can identify have conflicting textures, this would be vile to eat. This is coming from an Autist who eats MREs for fun.
I don't know, I feel weirded out seeing someone serving that bowl without a single bit of gammon or bacon ribs on the plate. We have a few occasional customers at work who seem to subsist solely on a diet of Lucozade, sketti hoops, bacon ribs, gammon, and WKD.
... Autistic people eat only fried garbage? That doesn't seem exclusively neurodivergent to be honest. I know some have that thing about food textures, but...
It's more the fact these processed foodstuffs are absolutely held to the same flavour and manufacturing over and over and over. It's routine in food form
nutripaste simulacrum
Where are my dunkaroos, and broccoli?
I couldn't agree more. I love veggies
Yeah, agree that this is not very accurate.
Don't get me wrong, pizza is great, fried chicken is great... but I'm an autist and I'm the opposite of a picky eater, and if I want quick/no prep food, I will snack on carrots, have a salad, eat some greek yogurt, apples or grapes or pickles or something, maybe trail mix.
This is more a 'I eat out of a microwave because I have no time or money or stress/planning capacity to meal plan and cook' kind of thing.
If I want something like pasta, I'll boil the noodles and fry up some jimmy dean sausage, toss the marinara into frying pan for the last few minutes, then grate a block of mozzerella over it.
Sure, I could just microwave some canned chef boyardee in 5 minutes... but it really only takes like 30 minutes to do it a bit more intensively, and it tastes waaaay better.
Untrue. I like certain fried garbage as comfort food when I need something to stabilize myself back to my routines, but that doesn't mean I only eat that. I keep a varied diet with tons of veggies (those with a texture/taste I can stand, and most of them raw, I prefer their taste over the cooked ones) and I try to keep my animal consumption to a minimum.
However... That plate has a lot of interesting textures to eat (but it's missing the mayo to dip them all, I can't stand fried garbage without a bit of mayo).
Also, the pizza is wrong. That kind of whatever topping it has is probably going to overwrite the rest of the flavours of the pizza.
... pepperoni? Or are you talking about the slightly overcooked cheese?
Yeah, like what? I know my veggies.
Ick, they're all touching each other
Once you pour ketchup all over everything it doesn't matter.
Y'know, I have a big squeeze bottle of ketchup sitting in the fridge unopened. Several times I have thought, "this dinner could use a squirt of ketchup to dip into." But because it's just me, and I only ever use a little squirt, I always decide it's not worth starting the clock on that big jug. Probably silly because ketchup is famously long-lived, but better for me not to get all that sugar in my system anyway. Sometime when the kids are all home I'll have to plan a dinner that justifies breaking the seal.
I just take little shots here and there to make sure it eventually empties in a few days
You're over thinking it brother! Open that thing, enjoy it. It will outlive us both.
British tapas
Brapas
Best in the world
Fried scrub daddies?
Yes, Scrub Daddies are made from polymerized mashed potatoes so they are delicious fried
Lol they're actually fried mashed potatoes.
0/10, different foods are touching each other.
That looks absolutely delicious.
Not sure if that's Autism or Britishness to be honest.
Some of these can burn in hell
Yeah seriously. Fuck some, but not all, of these food items.
Get that abomination of a waffle fry out of here. It's kind isn't welcome here
But they're waffley versatile!
grill 'em, bake 'em, fry 'em, eat 'em
Oh look. A bunch of shit my granddaughters claim they're going to eat, so I buy, but then they only take a couple of bites and announce that these don't taste the same as the ones mom gets.
Beige buffet
I'm autistic, and this is absolutely disgusting.
I don't get the connection to autism. Could someone explain the joke?
A lot of autistic people lean towards eating ultra-processed foods because it's a predictable sensory experience. They might order a burger, but request no tomato/pickles. Or a pizza, but only cheese and pepperoni.
It follows that an autistic person might eat children's food into adulthood because it's what they know.
Of course not all autistic people are like this, but it's why a platter with dinosaur nuggets and spaghettio's would be called an autistic sampler.
I think we have here another example of neurotypicals not getting the difference between adhd and autism.
Yes, they can coincide, but they do not have to, and they are different.
Some autists only eat beige food. Same as some non-autists. No real connection, just a cutesy meme making autists look like children.
not autistic, just adhd and picky but oh my word that looks divine
My autistic son wouldn't eat any of those. Not even one. I wish he would.
But it looks like a sampler for just about any NT kid I've known.
Just out of curiosity, what does he eat?
He eats cheese pizza only, peanut butter, cereal, sometime yogurt, hamburgers sometimes, hot dogs, ham and cheese (but often not the bread), suprisingly buttered bread, toast and mostly food that comes in bar form. Granola bars and many of the variations of those. And of course ice cream, candy, and a variety of deserts.
What do you think would happen if you walked him through the process of cooking a burrito?
Ground beef, some cheese, salsa/mild hot sauce, sour cream, shredded iceberg lettuce, soft tortilla?
It sounds like he actually has a fair acceptable range of flavor and texture profiles... the good thing with like a burrito is that you can just basically eat all the parts of it individually.
My guess would be that the salsa/spicy sauce would be the most likely to offend...?
Or maybe if a burrito is a bit much, more like a quesadilla?
I did forget that he will eat some burrito/taco and quesedilla. But no spicey. He doesn want much more than meat, cheese, and sour creme. Sometimes he will eat terriaky chicken cut into small cubes in the form of a burrito. And sometimes he will eat plain rice, or plain pasta.
The fact is, he has eaten most things at least once with no issue. But then won't eat them again for no obvious reason. I think it is less about a problem with the specific food, and just that he has some flavor or texture in mind any given day, and he will only eat that. There are very few things he will eat consistently.
Ah ok!
I ask because well, I'm autistic, though I am the opposite of a picky eater, I'll try anything at least once... but also I realize not all autistic people are the same.
Was trying to figure out if it was possible it was more of a texture/mouthfeel thing, certain flavor group, etc.
If I had to guess, based on all you've said, he doesn't like spicy, and he doesn't like ... basically meat that is substantial enough that you have to actually tear through some tissue, while chewing.
If he'll eat basically small chunks of meat... well pepperoni on a pizza, the slices are often large enough that you have to actually bite through the slices. So, maybe he'd be ok with sausage pizza, where the bits of sausage are fairly small?
That would be my main guess as to what the 'inexplicable' element of his tastes are... he can handle some hamburgers, because the meat patties are likely floppy enough that they're not difficult to chew apart, but I'm guessing if you gave him a rare steak, he'd hate it.
It might be useful to try to see how he'd respond to just like, bacon, at different levels of crispiness?
Also that and he seems averse to spicy. I remember spicy foods being essentially just mouth on fire pain as a kid, but I eventually grew into having a greater appreciation and tolerance for them.
I'd say that even a cured meat like pepperoni would also be what I'd call at least very slightly spicy... whereas teriyaki sauce, in the US at least, is basically extremely sweet and not spicy at all.
But also, as you say, yeah it very much could be that he basically has a specific kind of 'i want this kind of food / mouth experience today / now' in mind.
... if possible, maybe ask him, try to do like a meal plan system, a schedule? At least one meal a day is some kind of known in advance? Just having the structure might be helpful, basically just so it isn't surprising.
Whereas I feel called out. I eat all of these... Just not at the same time but its all my easy no effort meals. Except those waffle looking things, not sure what those are.
I think they are just some kind of microwaveable or quick bake, 'instant' waffles.
If those are waffles, he would eat them. Thought they were waffle frys
Also out of curiosity, what is NT?
New Technology. Those kids run on Windows XP SP2.
Ah, makes sense. Thx
NeuroTypical probably, at least in this context...
Nuerotypical.
Sample platter for a 10 year old kid. Just need some hotdogs 🌭
The only vegtable is the tomato sauce on the pizza and in the spaghetti o's. Like c'mon... Where are the fries?
Smiley fries
Those aren't chicken?
The dinos and curved things below whats probably 2 fish sticks are likely chicken. The smile faces and letters are probably fries
Dinos could also be turkey.
Clockwise from left:
Pepperoni Pizza
(Probably) Turkey dinosaurs
Spiced curly potato chips/fries
(Maybe) Fish or chicken fingers
(Probably) chicken nuggets
Alphabites potato chips/fries
Potato waffles
Potato Smiles
Spaghetti Hoops in Tomato Sauce
Mostly potato, therefore mostly vegetable, therefore healthy.
Technically they’re Chicken Dippers not chicken nuggets.
Birdseye Crispy Chicken Dippers?
Death row last meal
My autism will go into overdrive when eating this for bad reasons. There's nothing healthy on that plate. I need some veggies. Some nice tomato or cucumber slices, grilled eggplant or zucchini (why don't y'all just call it courgette smh). Maybe some mushrooms or something. Or pickles. One plate of veggies and then a little bit of the plate in the picture with a nice chunk of salmon, that'd do fine.
I am autistic, my current workplace gives us meals like this and it becomes super boring after a week of this every dinner.
Jeeves! A beige banquet for one, my good man!
My husband is autistic and he hates cheese (pizza is the ONLY exception), noodles, soup, anything creamy, beans, pasta, etc. What does his sampler plate look like?
Pepperoni pizza and fried coconut shrimp.
Mmmm, English breakfast.
hardened arteries.
I can only identify half of this and the ones I can identify have conflicting textures, this would be vile to eat. This is coming from an Autist who eats MREs for fun.
Sketti hoops in the bowl perfection I mean beans is superior but I don't look a beige buffet in the mouth
I don't know, I feel weirded out seeing someone serving that bowl without a single bit of gammon or bacon ribs on the plate. We have a few occasional customers at work who seem to subsist solely on a diet of Lucozade, sketti hoops, bacon ribs, gammon, and WKD.
Everything is gluten
As a gluttonous celiac person, you find workarounds for these. They're everywhere nowadays