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Always a pleasure to take part in RJ Scott’s Autism Awareness Blog Hop. The theme for the year always gets me thinking and the one for 2020 is no exception, being a topic close to my heart. Nosh.
I can’t eat lamb. Very simple reason: we dissected lamb hearts in A Level biology classes and even though that was forty something years ago, the effect has lingered. I’m not a squeamish gal so it’s not me getting all silly about the thought of the scalpel going in, just a fact that I was turned off it. The same way that I haven’t been able to drink Earl Grey tea since my first pregnancy. People do have logical reasons and associations why they’ve been put off food, though. Even some animals do: there’s evidence that if a certain thing they eat tastes vile they will avoid it in future - that's why some animals are so brightly coloured, advertising their nasty nature.
Taking of things having bright colours to advertise their nastiness...I don’t eat tomato ketchup, either. No associations here – I just can’t stand the smell and if I get any on my fingers I wash them as vigorously as Lady Macbeth! That’s the sort of food dislike that any of us can understand, being a matter of taste. We like some things and dislike others: I’ve never known anyone who would happily eat any and everything, although I suppose if any of us were desperate we’d overcome our choices.
Clearly there are people who can’t or won’t eat certain foods because of allergy or religious choice. I reckon it a sign of being a jolly good egg if you ensure that your guests’ food preferences are accommodated when you cater for them. It astounds me that there are still hotels who can’t offer a choice of courses for a gala dinner and insist on all the diners eating the same meal!
I suspect that part of our food preferences might also be to do with our upbringing. If we’re told enough times that Brussels sprouts are vile, maybe we begin to believe that.
Then, of course, there are our genes. A fact – coriander (cilantro for the US contingent) is vile. Tasting of soap, it’s definitely the devil’s spawn. Well, that’s a fact as far as my taste buds are concerned but apparently I’m in the vast minority. A mutation on chromosome 11 of the gene OR6A2 might be the little blighter to blame. It could be to do with sensitivity to aldehydes, which are organic compounds with a soapy taste that also crop up in coriander leaves. Ew. Am I right and the majority wrong or is it simply that we’re all different and that’s cool? And how does this all link to autism?
Look at this real fact: autism is a lifelong, developmental disability that affects how a person communicates with and relates to other people, and how they experience the world around them.
We accept that not everyone experiences something as basic as food in the way we do. We make allowances and try to cater for their needs. In that case, shouldn't we accept without question that neurodiversity exists, that people around us have different perceptions and that we should make sure we cater for that difference?
I can’t eat lamb. Very simple reason: we dissected lamb hearts in A Level biology classes and even though that was forty something years ago, the effect has lingered. I’m not a squeamish gal so it’s not me getting all silly about the thought of the scalpel going in, just a fact that I was turned off it. The same way that I haven’t been able to drink Earl Grey tea since my first pregnancy. People do have logical reasons and associations why they’ve been put off food, though. Even some animals do: there’s evidence that if a certain thing they eat tastes vile they will avoid it in future - that's why some animals are so brightly coloured, advertising their nasty nature.
Taking of things having bright colours to advertise their nastiness...I don’t eat tomato ketchup, either. No associations here – I just can’t stand the smell and if I get any on my fingers I wash them as vigorously as Lady Macbeth! That’s the sort of food dislike that any of us can understand, being a matter of taste. We like some things and dislike others: I’ve never known anyone who would happily eat any and everything, although I suppose if any of us were desperate we’d overcome our choices.
Clearly there are people who can’t or won’t eat certain foods because of allergy or religious choice. I reckon it a sign of being a jolly good egg if you ensure that your guests’ food preferences are accommodated when you cater for them. It astounds me that there are still hotels who can’t offer a choice of courses for a gala dinner and insist on all the diners eating the same meal!
I suspect that part of our food preferences might also be to do with our upbringing. If we’re told enough times that Brussels sprouts are vile, maybe we begin to believe that.
Then, of course, there are our genes. A fact – coriander (cilantro for the US contingent) is vile. Tasting of soap, it’s definitely the devil’s spawn. Well, that’s a fact as far as my taste buds are concerned but apparently I’m in the vast minority. A mutation on chromosome 11 of the gene OR6A2 might be the little blighter to blame. It could be to do with sensitivity to aldehydes, which are organic compounds with a soapy taste that also crop up in coriander leaves. Ew. Am I right and the majority wrong or is it simply that we’re all different and that’s cool? And how does this all link to autism?
Look at this real fact: autism is a lifelong, developmental disability that affects how a person communicates with and relates to other people, and how they experience the world around them.
We accept that not everyone experiences something as basic as food in the way we do. We make allowances and try to cater for their needs. In that case, shouldn't we accept without question that neurodiversity exists, that people around us have different perceptions and that we should make sure we cater for that difference?
