Navigating Life With ARFID: Stories, Struggles, and Support – Part 3

In Part 3 of Navigating Life With ARFID: Stories, Struggles, and Support, Lois, Ian, and Kay bring their most personal, nuanced insights yet as they explore how ARFID and neurodivergent eating patterns show up during the holidays — and throughout daily life. What begins as a conversation about sensory overwhelm quickly expands into a candid, often humorous look at food aversions, safe foods, trauma-based associations, and the emotional labor that comes with navigating meals when your brain processes food differently.

Kay shares the challenges of parenting a child with ASD who clings to one safe food for months at a time, especially during the long, festive Filipino holiday season. Ian explains how autistic shutdown, exhaustion, and overstimulation can override hunger entirely, creating survival-based eating patterns. And Lois speaks openly about medication side effects, food poisoning experiences, cultural expectations, and lifelong sensory rules that dictate what she can — and cannot — physically eat.

From childhood memories of being forced to eat foods their bodies rejected, to adult rituals of pre-reading menus, planning safe meals, or relying on “no-cook food,” the trio illustrates the deep sensory, emotional, and psychological layers behind ARFID-like behaviors. They also discuss the impact of pressure, shame, and well-meaning but harmful encouragement to “try one more bite,” highlighting how these moments can shape a person’s relationship with food for life.

Key themes include:

✨ Food as a form of control during overstimulation and routine disruption
✨ How stress, shutdown, and exhaustion override hunger cues
✨ Sensory sensitivities, texture aversions, and strong internal food “rules”
✨ Cultural expectations around holiday eating and family pressure
✨ Childhood food memories that turn into lifelong avoidances
✨ Supporting kids with limited foods without shame, force, or fear

Part 3 closes the series with a powerful reminder: ARFID is not defiance, stubbornness, or pickiness — it’s a deeply sensory, emotional experience shaped by safety, predictability, and overwhelm. For parents, adults, and families navigating these challenges, this episode offers empathy, validation, and practical insight into what it really means to eat in a neurodivergent body.