US mum documents autistic son trying foods to raise awareness around feeding challenges faced

A mum has been posting videos of her son trying different foods on social media to raise awareness about the feeding challenges faced by parents with autistic children.

Zachary is 26 and lives with autism and aphasia, a developmental disability that can cause significant social, communication and behavioural challenges.

Jennifer, Zach's mum, has been documenting her family's life on social media since April 2019 but it's not until 2021 that she started posting videos of Zachary trying all kinds of food.

To Jennifer's surprise, the videos proved to be extremely popular, particularly with parents of autistic children.

The videos of Zach trying foods have received millions of views on the social media platforms TikTok in Instagram - with their most popular video reaching over five million views.

Zach’s reactions to the different textures and flavours have warmed hearts all over the internet as videos show him eating all kinds of foods from broccoli to steaks and even Vegemite!

The US-based mom, who did not wish to reveal their location, said:

“We did not consciously decide to start making videos about Zach eating. It was just us having fun on TikTok and it took off.

“I am glad that people identify with Zach’s videos in some way. We hear from parents whose children are just diagnosed to specialists to fellow autistic adults.

“It has become a wonderful supportive community; I hope for not only us but for others as well.

“My two favourite videos are the vegemite video and the salmon video. Vegemite was a very daring experience. Salmon was a fun surprise. It was also a very loud environment for him.

“There was so much already going on for him. It was very challenging, and I did not have any expectation that he would try it let alone like it.

“I would like people to understand that Zach and other autistic people are doing the best they can. They aren’t 'being bad' or being stubborn.

“Everything they do is for a reason, and that is to take care of themselves. It may be wearing a hat at the table, or chewing with their mouth open, or not being able to sit still at the table, and that’s okay.

“I have also learned so much from other people. Just this week we posted a video about rice and other autistic adults described to me why they did not like rice.

“They spoke about their safe foods and why they were their safe foods.

“They are helping me to be a better parent and mother to Zach. I am so grateful for this opportunity.”