Autism and Ketchup!

As an Autistic person, I struggle with food. I struggle with textures, taste and still find it difficult to try new meals and snacks. I found this more challenging when I was a child. My daily food intake at one point in my life consisted of jam rolls and turkey dinosaurs with potato smiley faces! Different food on a plate couldn’t touch each other as this would upset me and if it did, sometimes I would refuse to eat my meal! I also ate different foods separately. I couldn’t have two or more pieces of different food on my fork as I couldn’t cope. I would find this too overstimulating with all the textures and tastes. However, one thing that was aloud to touch food, went with every meal and every bite I took, was Ketchup!

For some, this probably seems like a strange post! Over the years, I have noticed quite a few Autistics have/need to have Ketchup or some sort of condiment with most or every meal! Maybe you are Autistic/Neurodivergent, a parent, carer or even work and support Autistic people and wonder why we might do this… So! I thought I would share my thoughts and own experience on Ketchup as an Autistic person!

When I was a child, I would have Ketchup with every savoury meal. I would have it with a roast dinner, pizza, pasta, I would have it with every vegetable (when I eventually started eating my greens) and even had it with a food that already had sauce in it, for example baked beans! At one point, I even dipped my crisps in it! I would literally coat every piece of my food in Ketchup. I can remember a memory with my Mum carrying around a bottle of ketchup everywhere we went. We were at a restaurant once on holiday with family. I was six and remember getting very anxious and upset as there was nothing on the menu that I liked and was worried I was going to have to try something new which scared me. The chef was very understanding and very kindly cooked me one of the most fanciest chicken and chips I have ever seen…. of course, Mum then retrieved the emergency bottle of ketchup from her bag and placed it in front of me. I then ruined the presentation of the meal by smothering it in tangy, red sauce!

So! Why did I do this? As an Autistic person, I like things to be the same and this is important to me. Which is why I used cover my food with ketchup! It was and still is a tool to cope with change, different foods and textures. Ketchup can mask the taste and smell of food, which made it easier for me to eat. It even helped me eventually try different meals and snacks.. I had it with my first ever Indian and Chinese meal! Even though the textures of a meal would be different, ketchup was always familiar, reliable and made me feel safe. I knew what to expect. It always tasted the same, never changed and this helped reduce some of my anxieties.

Even now I’m an adult, I still sometimes need ketchup. Thankfully, not with a curry or with crisps and definitely not the amount I used to have! I actually had it a few nights ago with pie and veg because I felt overwhelmed and knew the different tastes would overstimulate me. I wanted and needed my meal to taste familiar and safe! I even had my favourite cutlery which made it even better! Shoutout to my step dad, Mike for making sure I had the right knife and fork!

Georgina X