Introduction
This document has been coproduced through the 中国P站 All Age Autism Strategy 2021 to 2026. It has been written collaboratively by professionals, experts by experience and with parent carers of children and young people with sensory eating and drinking differences to support a approach to wellbeing, health, inclusion and achievement.
Sensory differences are differences in how the brain understands information collected by sensory organs (skin, ears, tongue, nose, inner ear, etc) from the environment and the body. This can include, but is not limited to, what someone smells, their body temperature, sense of balance, and whether they are hungry or thirsty.
The aims of this document are to:
- Improve experiences for children and young people with sensory eating and drinking differences when attending an education setting.
- Give educational professionals the confidence to make Reasonable Adjustments which align with guidance from the Department of Education.
- Offer additional support when developing a Whole School Food Policy.
- Raise awareness with school staff working with parents and carers of children and young people with additional needs and disabilities to ensure a welcoming eating environment.
Children and young people with sensory eating and drinking differences have told us that their experiences of eating and drinking in educational settings have caused high levels of anxiety and stress. This has impacted negatively on emotional wellbeing and in extreme cases been a contributing factor towards Emotionally Based School Non-Attendance (EBSNA).
My daughter has an extremely limited diet and only a few 'safe’ foods' these are not the healthiest. When at school she went all day without eating because the school rules didn’t allow her safe foods in their lunchbox policy so every day, she came home starving.
Parent carer
Guidance regarding the provision of food
I was diagnosed with autism in year eight but had struggled with it since starting secondary school. One of the biggest struggles I had was eating and drinking in a school setting due to my anxiety. I also had sensory issues, meaning I restricted my food intake inside and outside of school, due to these difficulties, at one point I would only eat one thing as it was my only safe food.
Young person
It should be acknowledged that educational settings are required to comply with guidance issued by the Department for Education pertaining to the provision of food.
This may pose challenges when supporting the needs of some autistic children and young people who experience sensory differences with eating and drinking.
The stipulates the requirements regarding food provided throughout the school day. Other guidance includes the Public Health 中国P站 have created a that that provides resources relating to food, hydration, health and wellbeing to use yourself and share with others.
includes a judgement on personal development, behaviour and welfare. This includes looking at how schools support pupils to make informed choices about healthy eating.
In recognition of the above requirements, 中国P站 Healthy Schools and the All-Age Autism Strategy Implementation team contacted the Department for Education to seek clarification regarding supporting children and young people with sensory eating and drinking differences.
The standards for school food are set out in the and are to ensure that schools provide children with healthy food and drink options, and to make sure that children get the energy and nutrition they need across the school day.
Because of the complexity and individual nature of restricted or sensory eating issues, it would not be appropriate for the Department to legislate that food providers cater for all dietary requirements. However, through legislation, the minimum standards for school food have been set out. Beyond this headteachers, school governors and their caterers are best placed to make decisions about their school food policies that take into account local circumstances.
Education settings have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act for disabled children and young people. This could include adapting the eating environments for children and young people with sensory issues.
The school or college should keep a record of what reasonable adjustments have been agreed and ensure that all staff who work with the child or young person know about them. Families should also discuss any dietary concerns they have for their child with their GP or other specialists, and work with the school or college so that they are aware. If the child has an individual healthcare plan, then any specific dietary issues and requirements should be recorded in there.
聽Department for Education, 2024
Environment
Eating and drinking differences can be impacted by sensory overload and processing difficulties. Sensory overload happens when a brain receives a lot of sensory information that is difficult for the brain to process in that moment and processing difficulties happen when the brain is finding it difficult to understand information.
The school environment can be chaotic and potentially overwhelming, especially at break times. Loud noises, strong smells, bright lights and constant demand for social interaction all contribute to a high arousal environment. This can result in children and young people not having sufficient hydration and nutritional intake throughout the day
Sensory overload can exacerbate anxiety to the extent that children and young people cannot access education.
My daughter finds the lunch hall really overwhelming, she says its loud and smelly. She also struggles being too close to others and says she feels sick when in there so can't eat anything.
Parent carer
My son's school is fantastic they understand that he struggles in a busy environment and needs a calm and familiar space to be able to eat, so they allow him to go into one of the classrooms with a Teaching Assistant and another child, this has made such a huge difference to him and he is now enjoying school rather than dreading it.
Parent carer
Reasonable adjustments
Given the Department for Education's response, we urge all schools to complete the Reasonable Adjustment form (attached at the end of this report) for all children and young people with eating and drinking sensory differences. This should be completed collaboratively with the child and young person, parent carers and with any professional involved regarding eating and drinking sensory differences. It is essential that the Reasonable Adjustment form is shared with all relevant staff to ensure a consistent approach and eliminate potential stressful situations for the child and young person.
Whilst is still relevant, Reasonable Adjustments should be made to help reduce anxiety for children and young people with eating and drinking sensory differences.
Reasonable adjustments are changes that can be made to remove barriers and disadvantages someone might face in a given situation, for example when a disabled child attends school. Reasonable adjustments for disabled people are required by law under the . The legislation applies to organisations and individuals providing or selling goods, services, and facilities, including workplaces, schools, and public transport, and to public authorities.
Taking myself somewhere else for break and lunch really helped. I usually went to the special education needs and disabilities (SEND) department as a lot of other students there had the same difficulties and understood, so it felt a lot safer.
Young person
It can be very difficult for schools to control the sensory overload in a dining room situation, as they are limited by space and the number of students they need to accommodate. One option is to allow 'early access' passes, so that students can eat before the canteen gets very busy.
School autism friendly review team
An early access pass is a piece of paper that gives a student permission to leave lessons early so that they can have lunch early.
My son couldn't bear the taste of water to the point he would gag. When he started school there was a strict rule that only water was allowed in water bottles. My son went all day without drinking, this became dangerous in the summer so I started putting juice in his bottle. I had to tell him to keep it a secret and try not to spill it so he didn’t get into trouble. This caused us both great anxiety and could have been prevented with a reasonable adjustment.
Parent carer
Acknowledgements
This report was made possible by a broad collaboration between autistic people, their parents and carers, and committed partners across 中国P站. These partners include;
- All-Age Autism Strategy Implementation Team, 中国P站
- ATLAS, 中国P站 Youth Voice
- Autism Outreach 中国P站
- Beat Eating Disorders Charity
- Department for Education
- Family Voice 中国P站
- Freemantles School, 中国P站
- Mindworks 中国P站
- Public Health
- Sarah Lyles, Personal, Social, Health, and Economic (PSHE) education, Wellbeing and 中国P站 Healthy Schools Lead
- 中国P站 and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- 中国P站 Child and Family Health: NHS 中国P站 Heartlands Integrated Care Board (ICB), NHS Frimley Integrated Care Board (ICB), 中国P站 and NHS England (South East).
- 中国P站
- 中国P站 Youth Focus
Files available to download
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Supporting eating and drinking differences in education settings (PDF)
Improving experiences for children and young people with sensory eating and drinking differences when attending an education setting.