Advance diet

[AJ41]

My 7 year old autistic son only eats puried food (broccoli,carrots,cheese, chicken) and "gorilla munch" cereal dry.  I want to work on advancing his diet, but he seems afraid of new food.  He adamantly fights me when I offer new foods.  What can I do?

[Sally44]

This is probably a sensory issue and his tactile, smell or taste senses could be hypersensitive so that he doesnt like the feeling of harder food in his mouth, or he doesn't like the smell or taste of other foods.
As he has sensory differences I would recommend a book by Olga Bogdashina called Sensory and Perceptual Differences in Autism and Aspergers.  At the back of this book is a caregivers questionnaire that you can complete to get a sensory profile of your child.  My child is mainly affected with his tactile and auditory sense, but all his other senses also fluctuate between being over or under sensitive.
The Autism Advisory Department in our city uses this questionnaire to get a sensory profile of all the children with autism in the district, so it is a reputable tool.
What you may find is that when you know which senses are most affected and you make alterations to make it easier to perceive and interpret information through that senses, then it has a knock on effect on the other senses.
The professional who deals with Sensory Differences is an Occupational Therapist and you need one that has experience with autism and sensory integration disorders.
Out of interest does he also complain about smells, or like to smell things.  Is he tactile sensitive ie. a soft touch feels like it hurts him and at other times he injures himself but appears to feel nothing?  Is he okay with clothes tags and different materials.  Is he okay wearing shoes and socks.  Does he complain about the taste of food saying it is hot or spicy, or does he eat things and appear not to be able to taste them.  Is his balance okay, or does he appear clumsy or move awkwardly.