#(cont.) these specific symptoms. and it’s so hard to explain them to those without them.

[singer-smiles-74]

Ok so I usually don’t add on to a post, but this is something that genuinely so few people understand and I NEED that to change. That being said, I want to tell y’all a story. While I enjoy telling people about the time we got into ATSV as the theater lights dimmed, I never say why we were so late.

Over the summer, a friend and I were having a day out, and her aunt was our ride (along with the ride’s bf). 2/3rds of the party were people I’d never spent time with, so they naturally didn’t know about my sensory issues.

Well. The time came to have dinner, and we were trying to find a place to eat in an area none of us were familiar with. I always carry a sleeve or two of crackers for this very situation, and was urging them to pick a place they wanted to eat instead of trying to accommodate me.

Two reasons for this.

1. I knew it would take forever to find a place that served food I would only potentially eat (things could be burnt or oddly textured or taste/look off or- y’all get the jist)

2. I would have to reveal to people I’d essentially just met my extremely narrow diet. Not exactly something you’re willing to talk about on a first impression.

However, they were determined to find a place for all of us. With my friend’s help (since I was pretty much incapable of thought except for “oh shit oh shit oh shit-“) we managed to discover I eat cheese pizza. Huzzah! We were off to a pizza shop.

It was closed. We tried another. And another. The only open one we managed to find had a minimum 45 minute wait. And all the while I’m all but begging them to just go where they want to eat, I’m all set with my crackers (you get used to snacks having to hold you over until you can get home to edible food).

So by this point the adults are clearly a little stressed about making it to the movie, despite how nice they’re being about the whole thing. The rest of the party still hasn’t eaten. Them trying to accommodate me is inconveniencing everyone. else. Again, we go over the embarrassingly short list that is the things I’ll be able to eat. My friend’s aunt suggests grilled cheese.

Here’s the thing. I really don’t like grilled cheese. Any of the melty cheese type foods aren’t for me. Grilled cheese, cheese quesadillas, stuffed crust on pizza, I tend to avoid them. They make me miserable and I all but hate the texture of that melted cheese. So rubbery and rndjdjdnsndkdjddn-

BUT. I can eat them. I just won’t enjoy it. And I was so desperate to find any out of the situation that I said yes.

The shortened rest of the story is that we went to a Wendy’s drive thru for my friend and her aunt, sped to Dollar Tree and a Starbucks (this was pre boycott), genuinely ran out of Starbucks and peeled out to run through the building and step into our theatre just as the previews ended. (And that grilled cheese I paid for? I never ate it)

I know it’s a long story, and @/batmanego said it better than I think anyone ever could, but it’s really just meant to illustrate how much of a social obstacle food sensitivities are.

Every situation BatmanEgo described has happened to me several times each, and I wish more people took the time to see it as more than “you’re choosing to not eat that food” or “you’re afraid to try new things” or “you don’t even know you don’t like it because you’ve never tried it.”

Food sensitivities are real and a pain and humiliating. Medical sites describe the symptoms as occurring exclusively in small children to tweens. We have to adapt our orders to accommodate our needs on menus, or order from kid’s menus. It’s why ordering food at a restaurant is one of the most stressful situations I’ve been in. It’s embarrassing for us already. Please don’t try to make it any more than it already is.

autism allies (and even a substantial number of autistic people) when you tell them your autism-induced picky eating is not “picky eating” but is in fact an eating disorder that you can’t magically get over in the next 5 seconds: