Autism & Eating
AUTISM & EATING
We are here to provide affirming and effective support for neurodivergent people around food and eating.
Whether you are autistic, ADHD, highly sensitive, sensory processing differences, seizure disorders, OCD or otherwise identify as neurodivergent, you are in the right place.
STRUGGLING WITH EATING
We are here to help you/your loved one with food struggles like:
Skipping meals
Forgetting to eat
Overwhelm/avoidance with grocery shopping
General anxiety around eating
Shame or guilt around eating
Negative thought patterns around eating
Negative thought patterns around body size/shape
Feeling gross in your body during/after eating
GI problems causing fear with eating
Pain with eating or after eating
Underfueling in athletics
Binge eating
Throwing up after eating
Using exercise to compensate for eating
Unable to eat enough due to fear of weight gain
Unable to eat enough due to fear of vomiting or choking
Poor appetite
Lack of motivation to prepare food or eat food
Obsessive thoughts or behaviors around food
Anxiety around going out to restaurants
Anxiety around family or social gatherings that involve eating
Hiding food/hiding eating
VULNERABLE, NOT BROKEN
We are here to remind you/your loved one that…
You are not broken.
It’s common for neurodivergent people to get out of balance with eating. It doesn’t mean anything negative about you as a person.
Neuro-different people are vulnerable to developing persistent problematic patterns with eating because of:
differences in the nervous system, brain and body,
and the impact of being a neuro-different person in a neurotypical world.
These vulnerabilities include:
Challenges with the practical aspects of eating due to:
differences in executive functioning like time management and planning,
differences in focus (like getting stuck in project mode and forgetting to eat),
differences in motivation and reward pathways and
differences in sleep/wake cycles.
Challenges with identifying hunger cues due to differences in interoceptive awareness, body awareness and body attunement.
Needs for specific foods and eating environments due to sensory differences, social differences and physical sensitivities.
Overall higher anxiety and fear around food due to nervous system tendencies toward hypoarousal or hyperarousal, pain or GI distress with eating or after eating, and/or eating needs being unmet, invalidated, mocked or pathologized.
Vulnerability to be influenced by parents, social media, athletic coaches or culture at large to follow restrictive diets due to pressure to ‘perform normalcy’ to be safe and accepted and the high drive to be good, excel at sports and/or optimize health.
Vulnerability to become stuck in persistent problematic patterns with food due to the safety, familiarity and coping mechanisms these patterns can provide for a neurodivergent person dealing with loneliness, overwhelm, overload, rejection sensitivity, alexithymia, emotional processing differences, and feelings of inadequacy.
Likelihood of failure or harm in traditional one-size-fits-all eating disorder treatment approaches that are not designed for neurodivergent people and lead to worsening issues with food and increased shame and hopelessness.
HERE TO HELP
Eating issues are rough. You deserve individualized support that actually helps you. We are here to support you/your loved one…
CLIENT FOCUS
Individuals (16+) in one-on-one therapy
Couples where food/eating/body image is impacting the relationship
Parent(s) seeking support to help their child (tween, teen or young adult) with food and eating.
ABOUT US
We are a team of clinicians dedicated to helping neurodivergent people struggling with food and eating.
While there are common themes that we see with neurodivergent folks and eating, each of our clients is unique. We are eager to learn about your individual story and experiences with food.
We draw upon a range of approaches including CBT/DBT, relational therapy, narrative therapy, somatic therapy, internal family systems, social justice focused therapy and family based treatment.
We figure out together what works for you.
Further Help
If you’re seeking additional resources and specialized support for autism & eating, we invite you to visit our sister site, Eat Autism Therapy.
At Eat Autism Therapy, our therapists focus on listening to your story & your journey with eating. Together we build an individualized plan for Eating Recovery as a neurodiverse person. We use your autistic strengths and traits to your advantage on your path to eating freedom.
Visit the site to learn more about our services and how Eat Autism Therapy can make a difference in your life.