Colour Taste Texture: An Autistic Cook Book
My daughter is autistic and has a number of unusuakodd behaviours in relation to food. For example, we went to the zoo (she loves animals) and when I asked her the best part of the day she said it was the Chocolate Caramel Slice (just what a parent wants to hear after spending so, so much money). She is obsessed with junk food! But she frequently skips meals because she’s “not hungry”—and that includes meals that are simply us parents begging her to eat a sugary treat (like chocolate caramel slice) rather than nothing at all.
When she does eat, there is an extremely small range of acceptable dishes. We are constantly perusing recipe books to find more foods that she is willing to taste (often even a bite is too much to ask). And she loves recipe books, too! She brings them home from the school library all the time. Of course it’s mostly about the treats, but there’s usually one non-dessert item that she’s at least hypothetically willing to try. Having said that, I’ll often choose and cook something with her input and assistance only to have her change her mind at the end of the process and still refuse to try it.
[Memo to self: WHY does she get full so quickly? Investigate. Maybe it’s some kind of medical thing.]
Every so often, though, we have a real victory. For example, she has been eating a stick of celery almost every day for the last two years. It has to be slathered in peanut butter (smooth not crunchy) and choc chips, but she eats it. This is a HUGE deal. It’s currently her only acceptable green vegetable and if she required it to be deep-fried and served with ice cream we would do that. (She also takes iron and vitamin C tablets, because she would otherwise be literally malnourished due to her many food aversions and her general lack of appetite.)
Celery (and food therapy) was also key to my understanding that a crunchy texture is something that Lizzie really enjoys. (Which was quite a revelation, since I dislike almost all crunchy foods myself.) Today I made her cucumber sandwiches, and even though she ate only three bites before getting full, she said she liked it! (Then Chris and I finished them, and they were so good I made another just for myself.)
Sidebar: Cucumber sandwich recipe
Thinly slice some cucumber, and thickly butter two slices of white bread. Lay out the cucumber slices on the chopping board and press a paper towel on them to absorb the moisture (otherwise they’ll immediately go soggy, plus make your bread soggy). Spread mayo on the lower slice of bread, then arrange the cucumber in a single thin layer and sprinkle it with salt. Cut off the crusts and serve in triangles immediately (or it’ll get soggy). Watch the film “The Importance of Being Ernest” as you eat them for extra flavour.
So that was a win today!
As soon as I heard this book might be helpful for autistic kids, I wanted it.
It literally has chapters on colours, tastes (sweet, bitter, salty, etc), and textures—what autistic people tend to like and dislike, and how to modify dishes based on those criterion!
Autistic people don’t “hate vegetables”… they probably hate bitter tastes, or that farty smell (looking at you, cabbages), or crunchy foods (hello salad), or foods mixed together (again with the salad). If you can figure out WHY they love or hate a food, you might be able to expand their list of safe foods by changing the texture, colour, or environment. Incredible!
The author is autistic, which gives them excellent insights as well as some blind spots (eg his editor pointed out that in the colour section he had completely left out green, a colour to which he is so averse he forgot it existed). He clearly loves bread, and recipes with yummy dairy in them (buttermilk, cream cheese, butter) as there are loads of those.
The book isn’t written with a kid audience in mind, so although I started reading it aloud to Lizzie we quickly decided it was best for me to read it and for her to look at the recipes and pick which ones were best for her (interestingly, not every recipe had a picture with it, which was frustrating for her).
The author also uses cooking spray to stop things like dough sticking to other things, which to me is nothing short of a slap in the fact to autistic people in general and me in particular. Doesn’t he know that cooking spray has a horrible bitter taste that ruins almost everything it touches? And he says to use it on SWEET dishes? IS HE EVEN AUTISTIC??
Ahem.
My daughter likes sweet things, salty things, crunchy things, smooth things, and soft things. She always wants to eat while watching YouTube because that is soothing to her. Understanding these things is key to offering her food she is more likely to eat (it is extremely difficult to get her to eat much at all).
She jumped on the French Fry recipe and I managed to not tell her that it’s extremely similar to the way I roast potatoes almost every day (a safe and delicious food for me). I adjusted it a bit—cutting out pepper (which a lot of spicy-averse people like her also hate) and adding basil and garlic (both sweet flavours) instead. She liked them, and so did every other member of the family. They need to cook for 30-40 minutes, but they’re not super difficult. Given that Lizzie doesn’t even eat potatoes (I KNOW, weird) this is a win! Potatoes are actually a really great food with lots of fibre and other goodies. And I can easily cook her some fries every time I cook roast potatoes (so, about five times a week). Three baked potato chips a few times a week is actually a great improvement in her diet. Here’s how they looked:
I’m in the (long) process of cooking cinnamon rolls right now. They’re rather finicky (eg including fresh orange juice) but clearly they’re also the author’s absolute favourite recipe, honed over many years, so I have to try them at least once!
The author likes specific cooking tools like a dough hook (okay, what is that?) and meat thermometer (ooh, I could do with one of those), and uses Fahrenheit (ugh… why YES I already boiled some bread dough today) but their insights are so incredibly valuable. It’s definitely worth scribbling all over the book as I figure out what works for us and what doesn’t.
I haven’t seen anything like it before.
Pic of the finished cinnamon rolls:
They. Were. Incredible.
The edges were crispily delicious, and the middle was a crumpet-esque land of chewy bread perfectly intermingled with air pockets thanks to the author’s beloved tangzhong (aka roux) method).
I made the icing, which was great (and mercifully simple) but honestly there was way too much. I think the tiniest little bit of icing would be best, so the buns can shine. I also think this icing would take lemon or other flavours really well. Orange would be the perfect thing for these, since they already have a tiny bit of orange in them.
The icing also ruins the look, but perhaps a perfect swirl of icing along the line of the bun would work really well.
Now I’m all excited and I’m looking through the book with newly trusting eyes, thinking, “What other wonders lie in these pretty pages?
I normally get one let’s-give-it-a-go savoury recipe per book, and a few sweet ones that sound good. This book is batting waaay above average.
Of course, I adore bread too.
How am I?
First, some kitten content. Specifically, a rambling video of Zoom (and sometimes Zipper) playing.
And now for something completely different. The rest of this blog entry will be all about how I’m coping. Feel free to not read it.
Some restrictions have been lifted, and schools will be taking kids back from next week. It’s clear that a vaccine for COVID-19 is still a long way away, and that governments are under considerable pressure to pretend things are normal and safe before they actually are. A lot of people have been sharing a graph of the deaths from the Spanish Flu, showing a much bigger second wave (and then a rather large third wave as well). Others are pointing out that the restrictions are getting lifted not because things are safe out there, but because there is currently room for more patients in the ICU.
Also, I have diabetes (and an auto-immune disease or two) so my chance of dying is considerably higher than the norm.
Also, those who recover from COVID-19 are just beginning to discover that it has left them with major long-term health problems. Being familiar with long-term health problems, I really really don’t want more.
So no, I don’t plan to send the kids back to school, even though it’s so terribly hard to have them here. They’ll stay home for at least the rest of this term. Although I do plan to arrange some playdates—carefully. My family had a Mothers’ Day get-together yesterday and we joined them after lunch (on the basis that sharing food is extra hazardous), but didn’t see Chris’s side of the family. We’ll visit them for TJ’s 6th birthday day next month, and this coming weekend he’ll have a “party” with precisely 2 friends (held outside, while at the same time Louisette has 1 of her friends over, and they play together inside).
But. Still no school, and for a long time.
Zoom is, obviously, a fantastic source of fun, amusement, and cuddles. Feeding her three times a day (down from six now) is a bit of a hassle, and cleaning up her constant weeing in my bathroom is… not great. But as far as mental health goes, she’s an enormous plus.
I’m the kind of person who would do really well living alone and isolated for months at a time. But that’s not my situation at all. I have one kid who I barely see (luckily for my ability to care for her), and one who wants to be with me, talking with me, for most of his waking hours. So the funny, clever, energetic TJ is… a lot.
My plan for schooling is to set up and loosely supervise the half hour Zoom classes each kid has, plus a little bit of writing practice for TJ (he practises reading with Chris at night). He’s not missing friends too badly (in fact he refuses to speak to them on Zoom), and he’s so obsessive about computer games (including educational ones) that he’s way ahead on both reading and maths.
For Louisette, I plan to do some reading with her each day, and to keep up with her maths assignments.
I’m reasonably happy with how things are going with TJ, but I’m quite far behind with Louisette (who is the one who needs more schooling).
Having said that, one or two good days with Louisette could catch us up on the maths stuff.
So maybe I’m doing well after all. It doesn’t feel like it. I have an alarm set for 9:30am so I can be dressed ready for TJ’s 10-10:30am class (if I remember, I set up Louisette to do Cosmic Yoga at the same time). Then I typically fall asleep until my alarm goes at 1pm and it’s time to put my bra back on ready for Louisette’s class. But a lot of times lately I fall back asleep either during or after Louisette’s class, and I don’t do anything directly with her. Oh well.
Having written it down, I’m not all that far away from my goals. And sure, I’m not getting much done lately, but that’s life. I have tired/useless periods and I have other times when I do well. All I really have to do is wait until I have a good day and hope it lines up with a good day for Louisette.
And I’m missing doing writing, which is a good sign.
Wish me luck, and health. I also had a phone call today about my Disability Support Pension application, which means I had to focus on all my physical and mental issues. It’s exhausting, because I usually try not to think about stuff directly. And I suspect it will lead to more forms, which is terrifying and difficult. Oh well. One step closer, presumably.
The Virus Diaries: Slowing Down
I’ve been blogging daily since beginning self-isolation on March 15th. I’m not technically running out of things to say, but I am running a little lower on the urge to blog. So I’ll stop doing daily blog entries soon.
It will be a long, long time before my kids go back to school. For me, that’s the main thing (assuming my loved ones and I continue to avoid the virus… which is a lot more likely the longer I keep the kids home). Term 2 officially begins the day after tomorrow and I get panicky whenever I think about it. Ugh. And it’s very likely that there will be a second wave of COVID-19 starting exactly 2 weeks after schools open. Yuck.
Anyway, here’s Zipper being annoyed at me for taking a picture.
Don’t panic if I don’t blog tomorrow (or even for the next week or two): it’ll be laziness, not illness, that stops me.
Art of the day: Have you tried interactive fiction? It’s like those Choose Your Own Adventure books from the 80s, but these days it’s usually digital (which gives it a glorious flexibility eg you can choose your gender) and sold as apps. There’s a huge amount of fantastic content available from Choice of Games (and their unofficial label, Hosted Games, which has published me several times).
My stories are the pirate adventure Scarlet Sails, the magical steampunk tale Attack of the Clockwork Army (which happens at the same time as my third steampunk novel, and features some of the characters), and the cozy murder mystery Death at the Rectory. I’ve also been part of two group-written games, the retro scifi comedy Starship Adventures, and the portal adventure Lost in the Pages.
Farting My ABCs: Chapter 15 (the end!)
In which Louisette attempts to merge with a bush, and TJ performs a fart dance.
Well, there you go!
Today, Zipper ALMOST managed to get her collar off. But instead she got it stuck around both her neck and one leg.
I laughed when I realised, which did not help matters as she fled into TJ’s room. We all backed off, and soon enough she was in her cat box ready to be caught and freed. She’s fine now—not that she deserves it, the little punk.
Art of the day: Er… how about Farting My ABCs? I’m tired; shut up.
Farting My ABCs: Chapter 14
In which I make lots of farting noises while a neighbour (not pictured) attempts to garden.
I stayed up all night and DID finish The Floating City, and sent it off the the publisher, who very graciously let me know right away that they had it. I also saw the sun rise, and gave my kids a good morning hug before going back to bed.
And yes, I feel amazing.
I know what to work on next, writing-wise, but I plan to pause for a week or two and try to steer my creativity towards household things for a bit.
Art of the day: Only Freaks Turn Things Into Bones, which is actually a gothic picture book, and an utter delight.
Farting My ABCs: Chapter 12
We’re in the home stretch of the story now. Four more chapters, including today.
I’ve been running several errands in the local area because of the food pantry (fetching and delivering food). My driving is terrible lately; I’m fascinated by everything I see outside of my own house. And then I’m shaky for an hour afterwards—much worse if I actually interact with a human.
A lot of people are developing obsessive-compulsive disorder and/or agoraphobia at the moment. Fun!
Anyway.
I officially finished my post-sensitivity reader edit of The Floating City, my interactive climate fiction novel. I’ll spend some time playtesting through the endings and then officially submit it. It is FREE HERE… and if you spot any errors let me know via fellissimo@hotmail.com and I’ll add you to the thank-yous.
Art of the day: I’m re-reading The Girl Who Drank The Moon by Kelly Barnhill. It is heartbreaking and beautiful and kind and fun.
Farting My ABCs: Chapter 11
In which my attempt to get a view of the creek in the frame ends in blood and screaming (but can you see that little bit of brown sludge between Louisette’s rainbow dress and the bridge, behind the reeds and below the bushes? Totally worth it).
Anyway.
I am still attempting to lure Zipper into the hammock with me, and she continues to dance back and forth without getting up the courage to try it. However, she cheerfully jumped onto the trampoline with me (I was luring TJ inside as he clearly needed to burn some energy) yesterday, so perhaps there’s still hope.
She looks like she’s rolling her eyes here, doesn’t she?
We’ve been moving around some furniture in order to accommodate a desk in the master bedroom (so I can still lie down while supervising home schooling) so Zipper’s precious box is now somewhat elevated. She doesn’t seem to mind at all, and still spends much of her day there.
Moving furniture is SO exciting by the way. Try it at home today!
Art of the day: Have I mentioned Pamela Freeman’s Princess Bethony books yet? They’re great.
Farting My ABCs: Chapter 10
Here’s the chapter of the day:
There is a lot of scowling into the sun in this video. If you’ve been watching some “Jimmy Fallon” on Youtube (he’s running his late night show from his house) you see a LOT of his two lovely daughters being utterly unimpressed by his comedy. It’s a beautiful thing (although a little too relatable from where I’m standing).
I often drive past this bridge, and I’ve wanted to take the kids there for years. A few weeks ago, before restrictions became official, I was able to do it (while social distancing, of course).
A lot of people are trying out things they’ve always wanted to try: Baking bread, other cooking, home improvement stuff, etc. I am very jealous of all those very bored and/or very productive people. Parents are mostly just desperately trying to keep their head above water as they suddenly have to deal with all the fun of school holidays with no playgrounds, no shopping trips with kids, no play dates… and a crash course in home schooling. Fun!
Art of the day: A lesson for your middle grader.
Farting My ABCs: Chapter 9
My quest to lure Zipper into the hammock with me continues.
Given that she doesn’t even sleep in my bed, this quest may be doomed to failure. She knows I can never stay still for long. There’s always a million little things to do, so once I rest a little I try and do something useful. Then I need to rest again. Then I do some other small job. And so on.
Here’s Zipper yawning:
Anyway, here’s Chapter 8:
Art of the day:
Farting My ABCs: Chapter 8
At night, I read a book or three to Louisette and then talk to her for a while as we both lie in bed. Sometimes we both fall asleep. Sometimes Zipper graces us with her presence. And sometimes Chris takes a photo of the three of us, all asleep.
And here’s Chapter 8 of Farting My ABCs.
Art of the day: Recreate famous artworks with items you find at home—a facebook group.
Felicity Banks 