Yeah, I have ARFID (avoidant restrictive food intake disorder, common amongst autistics & other people w sensory issues) and was. Badly traumatized as a child because I was a ""picky eater"" who was forced to eat things I found disgusting. I do not trust anyone who talks about ""picky eaters"" like the very act of having specific food needs is some grievous insult against the foundation of society. My relationship with food is still fucked up because of this, because instead of acceptance and accomadation I was forced to sit at the dinner table, crying and embarrassed, for hours as I forced myself to eat small bites of things that caused me physical distress in order to earn the right to leave.
And for me, I can generally tell when something will trigger my sensory issues. Yet every time I was told "you have to try something once before you know!!!" despite the fact I was always right, and then sometimes I would be told "WELLL you actually need to try something ten times before you can say you don't like it!!!" which just feels like my family was mad I didn't like the bullshit food they forced me to eat after I said I wouldn't like it.
The way some people talk about us is just so fucked up. Person in the screenshot is a very very tame version, but some people get so personally, aggressively enraged by the idea of someone being "picky" about food. As if it's something we do to personally fuck with you, and not something that leaves you alienated from so much of society. Because it's not fun for you to go out to eat, it's not fun for you to eat at parties or events, meals with family and friends is stressful, you never know if you'll have access to a safefood in public, and even if you do you are hyperaware that you are eating a "kids meal" or a "snack" while everyone else happily eats the grown-up food that disgusts you. I've had multiple times where I almost start crying at a dinner with family because I order something, it's not good for my ARFID, and I get so viscerally embarrassed and ashamed that I can't be normal.
& that's not even getting into the health affects this has had on me– yet people act like it's a quirky life choice. I def agree w stellalunasys; abled people (ableism as a capitalist system in general) don't understand the idea that disabled people NEED to listen to our bodies to survive. It's not just a matter of something literally stopping you. An abled person COULD stick their hand into an open flame, they literally have that ability, and yet for some reason they don't! Almost like they know it would seriously hurt their body!
