I have struggled with both of my children and eating. My son used to only drink milk. And my doctor suggested to go to pediasure so he got nutrients. But I decided to buy Almond milk (a stab at the caseine free diet). The almond milk didn't fill him up like regular milk and pediasure and he finally started to eat puree'd (baby) food. From there I went to Gerber graduates (or any super soft bite-sized food). I'm still working to wean him from that and fork-mashed food. But it's a slow process. I've been doing this for going on 4 years.

Typically developing children will eat when they are hungry enough. My son at 9 months literally landed himself in the hospital because he go some goldfish that gave him severe symptoms of his lactose intolerance and refused to eat or drink the whole weekend.

When his bottle got lost at 12 months and I could not find an exact duplicate he went 2 days without drinking before taking a sippy. We also offered a different bottle with the style nipple he liked. He ended up with the sippy.

It is a painful process with autistic children. I don't think they feel hunger the way we do, or rather don't comprehend what the pain means.

Have you had him tested for sensitivity to smell? My 6 year old has ASD and Sensory Processing Disorder. During testing at a SPD center, we found out one of her most sensitive areas is smell which explained why she only ate bland foods like rice or noodles with no sauce. If it had a strong smell, she wouldn't go near it. With sensory integration therapy, she's become less sensitive to smell and slightly more adventurous with food choice.

Please look into the GAPS diet, pediasure will not help with weight gain. Your child needs healing fats like chicken fat, beef fat, coconut oil, ghee. Check it out at GAPSdiet.com

If you want more info on how this has helped our journey over the last year you can look at my blog: www.takesatown.com

start slow,one food ,make it when you are eating are their foods that he likes, what about cookies and candy? applied behavior ie rewarding the behavior may work my son lives on toast chicken nuggets,applesauce and cereal getting a specialist ,will help best of luck