Food

Braces have given my son the perfect excuse to have his favourite textured food again ; thick, home cooked casserole/stew consistency, soft and undemanding on his mouth, teeth and gums.
Easily chewed without any concentration required so he can zone out, one of his stims.
He has always been overly sensitive with all of his senses, his mouth equally so with food textures.
It goes back to the soft mashable food my mother, his favourite person in the whole world, would make for him.

She could feed him mashed spud and carrots with lambs fry *gag* daintily shredded through it and he'd back up for 2nds and 3rds.
Me, he'd deign to glance at the spoon before looking behind me for my mother.
Routine.
And routine with his food still lingers, the delicate brackets on his teeth needing foods that won't exert pressure, so he gets treated to his favourite foods, knowing full well that the menu is dependent upon his orthodontist, going so far as to ask how much longer he could keep his braces on.
Food has always played such a huge part of our lives where we have had to watch allergies and intolerances, continued to offer him a wider selection of foods and cooking styles, and given him tips and suggestions on how to behave when out.
Like most on the Spectrum he's found most fast food outlets to be heavy going with the bright garish colours and lighting, and the texture/smell of the food unpleasant, but he's managed to contain himself for short bursts of up to 45 mins when attending birthday parties.
Nothing ever came easy; each step was like a torture session, getting him to even just try a different food or style was an endurance challenge on how long we could retain our hearing as the screams would bounce off the kitchen walls.
Foods touching on the plate = scream.
Orange food = scream.
Green food cut differently = scream.
Meat = let's not go there but the pets were well fed.
Eggs = it's a biatch to scrub off walls, y'know? The yolk's the worst. And hard boiled eggs bounce like little rubber balls.
Let's say we've never convinced him lettuce is anything more than a garnish for hamburgers or for the likes of lasagna to rest upon, salads are a non-starter and pineapple only ever lives on pizza.
Of course.