The World of Lun

The once robust Lun became a very picky eater. He ate dried food, cheese and pop only. He ate like a bird, little by little and non-stop. 

 

This year Lun is sixteen and a half years old. If he is like other ordinary teens, he should have been demanding on getting a driving license half a year ago. I should have assessed if he was reliable and responsible enough to get a driving license at age sixteen. If he was reliable enough, he could help us by giving his younger brother a ride to and from school.

 

Of course, starting from the date of his diagnosis as autistic, we dropped all similar expectations. However, whenever I encounter youths of his age, I easily wish how big and tall, or how rebellious he would be if he was not autistic. 

Though Lun is not too different in appearance with his contemporaries, he is with a small statue and more childlike. Indeed he is very slim which is closely linked to his picky eating habit, and lack of interest in exercise. His bones and muscles were underdeveloped.

 

He was robust two years and five months onlu. Suddenly in a day he quitted milk completely. In the following months he quitted fruits, vegetables, and even raisins. Since then he only ate cheese as food, the stronger the taste the better. Dry food included biscuits, cookies and cheese crackers. Drinks included mainly apple juice, 7-up or Sprite, but no plain water. He did not eat hot and spicy food. Upon tasting anything spicy, he yelled loudly. However, he changed to love spicy food, and the stronger the better. He ate the yoke, not the white for eggs and mooncakes; the cheese, not the crackers for cheese crackers; the tart, not the custard for egg tarts; the whole crispy cutlet, and some meat for chicken nuggets.

 

He eats continuously all day like a bird, little by little. Actually he swallows the whole noodle and spaghetti like a bird feeding on worms instead of chewing. Crackers are broken down into tiny pieces for easy swallowing one by one.

 

Unlike most people drinking from the cup. Lun loves using straws, or spoons. He has an unusual practice of taking soup with folk. one drop at a time. Don't make fun of him. With patience, he finishes the soup often. There is truth in “foolish old man moves mountains”. 

 

Except for biscuits and cheese, he hates to have food stuck inside his mouth. We guessed that the interior of his mouth is very sensitive or repellant to similar food (of sticky nature). His tongue is not flexible and it affects his speaking and chewing. As a result a particular eating habit was formed.

 

Such eating habits are not balanced and he is not strong. We have to force him to take milk with supplements, and vitamins. Having said so, he is not worse in health than his contemporaries and pays only ordinary visits to doctors.

 

The most annoying activity regarding Lun’s eating habit is the cleanup. He hates having dirt on his hands while using his hands to pick up food. Immediately he applies the dirt, such as sauces and curries, onto his clothes. He seldom follows our corrections. A few T shirts each day from him plus other items, there is non-stop laundry. There are plenty of cracker pieces and pop stinks on the floor to feed birds and bugs.

 

I always wish, 1) by living in a recreational vehicle that I can sweep all the food scraps out far to feed the birds; 2) by living in the desert that our tent can be moved to the neighboring site with a clean site. Out of sight means out of might.