Week 2 Day 4

So he's had 6 days so far of "eating school" and he really has learned alot!
Yesterday I felt was really terrible. All 3 meals were ugly. He blocked many bites with his teeth and would not let food in, he spit out preffered food for the first time- cheese. He actually spit at the therapist (besides the yelling and screaming and attempts to hit, which he's done all along) and he yelled the only "curse" the meanest thing he knows to say. He yelled, "Go Away".

We have had several weeks back in June where he began saying "Go Away". We explained how fresh that was and it's not allowed. It got him several time outs and that phrase disappeared. Until yesterday.

They also switched out the macaroni and cheese for applesauce, and all that negative behavior yesterday was in response to applesauce. Yes, applesauce.

It seems like we have quite a bit of data, and the doctor explained that Adam is consistently inconsistent. They are unsure why. Phil thinks it's because secretly Adam is the one collecting data on them. :)

He prefers and will eat: cheese, grilled cheese and yogurt. The yogurt part is awesome, he learned in the 6 days to lick the spoon clean, and willingly eat yogurt. He does not prefer macaroni and cheese, banana, and applesauce. In spite of that, there have been some meals and some bites within the meal that he will eat those foods and other times he blocks them. He also seems to call all the foods he doesn't eat willingly "banana". Afterwards I ask him what he ate (even though I am watching behind a mirror) and he tells me "cheese and banana." I also ask him how he did and he aways gets real happy and says he ate all his bites. So he is also learning to lie. :)

We all expected this morning to go as terribly as yesterday and we were prepared for them to use physical guidance: this is where they put pressure on his cheeks by his mouth and basically force him to open his mouth. However, Adam ate all the applesauce this morning. Who knows why.

For lunch today it was really interesting. They gave him cheese, grilled cheese, yogurt and banana. In that order. One bite of each. The first time he got to the banana he fought. I'm talking like he never fought yet. I thought yesterday was bad, well he pulled out everything he had. She applied pressure and got him to put in in and he would spit it out and then spit at her. She would put bite back in and he would yell, hit and then he made himself vomit. She put the bite back in and he vomited again. This struggle he had went on forever. I'm not exaggerating, like 20 minutes. The therapist was calm, cool, never raising her voice, only applied what was needed. Finally the bite went in and he swallowed it. He was angry with her and didn't even want the toy or praise. The next round he ate all the bites and was back to laughing with her until that banana came up again. This time the struggle lasted a small fraction of the time. Maybe 5 minutes. He swallowed. The next round of bites, went fine. Cheese, grilled cheese, yogurt. The banana's turn again. This time, Adam ate the banana with her hand over his hand on the spoon. He let the banana fall out of his mouth, but then he quickly picked it up and put it back into his own mouth before she could do it. The last round, he ate all the bites willingly.

He also has learned to eat his last bite very quickly. He learned when she says, "Last bite" if he eats it fast, he's done.

He was worn out from the lunch feed and pretty much fell asleep in seconds afterwards.

Also, Occupational Therapy yesterday and today were awesome! He made such amazing progress, he made a salami and cheese sandwich, played with sweet potato, pudding, mashed potatoes, and banana. He had fun and even let the food go near his mouth. He even took a few bites of kosher salami, of all things!

He is learning.