FAQautism

Several parents and teachers have asked for ideas about snacks for individuals with autism. Parents are wanting to have a variety of healthy snacks on hand for road trips, after-school snacks, and t.v. snacks. One teacher said, “Two of my students with autism really like the texture of crisp, crunchy snacks, but another student prefers soft, chewy snacks. I need an easy and inexpensive way to customize snacks to meet their needs.”

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One strategy you might try is to take some time every two weeks or so to bag up customized snacks in small zip-lock bags. This snack project is most successful if your friends with autism assemble their own snacks. Just gather a variety of bite-sized goodies that are in keeping with any special dietary needs. Then let your friends assemble snack bags based on their own tastes.

If possible, let your chefs go shopping with you and select their own ingredients. Fortunately, grocery stores are stocking snacks in a large variety of textures, sizes, and tastes, so it is easier to select five or ten items that can be mixed together for a customized snack.

When you are ready for assembly, just give your “snack chefs” a plastic mixing bowl or a baking pan and put out a variety of ingredients in small bowls. After they wash their hands, the chef scan use a small measuring cup or large spoon to scoop up anything they want into the mixing pan. After getting just the right combination and scrambling the ingredients together with their hands or a soft spatula, they can scoop the mixture into several small snack-sized or sandwich-sized zip lock bags. Because variety is the spice of life, your chefs will probably will want to make several different combinations for the week.

Try some of these snack-sized tidbits for ingredients in your snack factory:
+ Roasted, unsalted almonds, cashews, peanuts, pecans, macadamia nuts.
+ Corn nuts, popcorn, dry Ramen noodles, shoestring potatoes, crunchy Chinese noodles
+ Raisins, golden raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries, dried apricots, banana chips, dried apples, dried pineapple chunks
+ Low-salt corn chips or snack-sized crackers
+ mini-pretzels, flavored pretzels, square butter pretzels
+ Chex, mini-shredded wheat, Honey Grahams, Crispix, and other crunchy cereal squares
+ animal crackers, ginger snaps, vanilla wafers, and other small, non-sticky cookies

Just help your chefs explore a wide variety of textures and tastes to create their own customized snacks. Send us your snack ideas with a message to talk@FAQautism.com

NOTE TO READERS AND LISTENERS: I am Cathy Knoll, a board certified music therapist and long-time friend of many folks with autism. At FAQautism.com we are committed to providing free, practical, everyday tips for making life better for people with autism. Feel free to send me an email with your thoughts or challenging situations or innovative solution. Send email to talk@FAQautism.com And don’t forget to check out our website for a wealth of ideas and a glimpse into the world of autism. http://FAQautism.com

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