Can’t eat won’t eat

This collection is inspired by my son’s 8 year journey to diagnosis’s of ARFID, collaborating with Corrine of Finch Family life as she manages the disorder undiagnosed with her children.

This collaboration is a combined lived experience of the disorder we are not experts.

Avoidant, Restrictive, Food, Intake Disorder is a condition that is all consuming. It can affect children and adults in mild to severe forms and is life long, in our case largely led by anxiety and sensory needs.

Oscar is ten years old and has been under the local eating team from weaning stages due to complex and difficult eating with periods of refusal leading to Hospital admission.

After being under local eating teams with numerous professionals for 7 years, Oscar’s consult finally held his hands up and kindly said, ’we need to make a referral to a more specialist team’. Oscar was seen and diagnosed with an eating disorder, called ARFID, in May 2024 and remains under the care of a specialist eating service at the Evelina Hospital, St Thomas’s Hospital LONDON. He has a 1-1 nurse and we have attended an online support group, we are soon due our first 1-1 coaching session to discuss the next steps.

Eating disorders in children with Autism and difficulties eating affect around 49% so it is not uncommon. It is something that is very hard to treat as every case is very individual for health and growth. It is vital that annual checks are made for blood and levels to make sure they do not become deficient and cause organ damage.

Selective eating and picky eating are often term’s associated with ARFID, which stands for Avoidant, Restrictive, Food, Intake Disorder, and is seen as a complex eating disorder .

Most toddlers go through a stage when they reject new or unfamiliar food. Children usually grow out of this stage and learn from watching others which foods are safe and ok to eat. Children with ARFID get stuck in this stage and their difficulties with eating interfere with every day family life .

Arfid is not caused by parents or by a child being deliberate or naughty, there is not one single cause. Complex feeding and difficulties eating generally involve a wide range of factors, not all children have all factors but here are some .

• Premature birth

• Complex medical issues in early life that require invasive procedures like suctioning, ventilation, frequent bloods, surgery or nasogastric tube .

• Complex conditions that affect appetite such as renal conditions

• Early feeding difficulties like problems latching on, falling asleep during feeding, small frequent feeds, breathing issues on feeding

• Vomiting or reflux

• Severe constipation

• Eczema/food allergy

• Late to weaning and solids

• Developmental delay in speech, attention difficulty, rigid thinking style, difficulties in sharing attention

• General dislike of change and new things

ARFID can be common amongst children who are Autistic, but not all children who have ARFID are Autistic.

We are going to share our collection with you by lived experience as a diagnosed family, and an undiagnosed family, and really hope the collection resonates with families like ours who live with the restrictions of eating disorders .

We were on the Gateway 97.8 FM radio

I’m Corinne and we are a family who are neurodivergent. My sons are autistic and we often have many food struggles, due to sensory processing. I’ve always found that beige, repetitive foods(like chicken nuggets, chips, smiley faces, toast) are a firm favourite. I spent much of their early years worrying about their diet variety and not eating as much as other children do but in time I’ve come to accept and understand that as long as their eating something it’s better than nothing at all.

This is why I’m really passionate about safe foods being always accessible at all times.

This range with Born anxious is something I’m really excited about- to have clothing designs that represent the safe food our children eat in a fun way is amazing!