Helping Conner

Ever since Conner was a baby he has had issues with eating.  Unfortunately we were a bit naive.  When he started to eat solid food he had a hard time.  He hated eating, he eventually would eat but a lot of the time he would throw up his food. We thought he would outgrow it.  I found foods that he liked and would eat.  When I tried to introduce new foods he would scream and not eat.  I found that if I mixed his food with blueberries he would eat it, still I would have to be careful because he would gag and throw up.  One day he was so angry and crying so much that he pushed back and broke his high chair.  That is when I decided to feed him while he took a bath because he would throw up almost every time and while in the tub he would play and be distracted while I fed him.  It was so hard on us and it still is.  Dinner time is miserable for us.  The thought of dinner makes me want to cry, because we can never sit together, Conner hates the smell of food and we can not sit next to him.  I seriously thought he would get better but he hasn't.  I called the pediatrician and they suggested an occupational therapist.  When I looked at their website I read about "Dysfunction in sensory integration" and one of the symptoms is picky eater. I want to cry because I feel bad for him and yet if that is what he has I am happy that finally something can be done. I want him to get better, I want this battle with food to finally be over. It has consumed our lives ever since he started eating.  Dinners revolved around finding something that he would eat and then getting him to eat it!!!  Dinners at our house can take sometimes more than 2 HOURS.  It so stressful that I don't like cooking anymore and I HATE DINNER TIME.  The worse part is people don't understand that he is not just a picky eater, it is more than that.  It is so hard for him and it hurts to see him suffer like that. Unfortunately this is starting to affect him in other ways, some kids at school don't like him.  Conner is a sweet boy, he is caring and loving and I don't want him to change.  It hurts so much when he comes home and tells me that his classmates don't want to play with him or that they call him annoying.  In an effort to help him we took him to a psychologist and she said he had some OCD issues.  She wanted to treat him with hypnosis. That is when we decided it is better to take him to an occupational therapist.  I can't wait to meet with the therapist and be able to finally help him!!