ARFID - Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder - A Guide for Parents and Caregivers

There are some editing and typography issues, and the book seems a bit disorganized, but it's a good primer on ARFID nonetheless. Fernanda do Valle describes the process by which she found a treatment protocol that worked for her son, and she emphasizes repeatedly that she takes issue with the idea that one must be underweight to qualify for a restrictive eating disorder diagnosis. This book helped me see deeper connections between ARFID and atypical sensory processing than I'd previously known, and the recommendation of a sensory processing evaluation is helpful.

One of the recommendations in the beginning of the book is to disallow snacks in bed and outside of designated meal and snack times, but do Valle repeatedly emphasizes that parents shouldn't feel like they have to go with a treatment protocol that goes against their values, so I don't feel like this is a problem in the text.

There is description of a consultation with a BCBA where the therapist's plan was to systematically desensitize the child to food with the goal of having him eat the food given to him regardless of whether he liked it, out of a sense of duty and with no emotional connection to the meal. Do Valle rejects this treatment first because rewards and punishments are ineffective for her son, and second because she views it as “mechanistic” and she wants her son to be able to enjoy food and experience it positively as a form of social connection. She is critical of American culture's valorization of thinness and of its demonization of food as a source of positive emotion.

Overall, this book was a good primer for me in understanding my own experiences with ARFID both in myself and in my kid.