ARFID: More Than Picky: The Misunderstood Eating Behaviors of Many with AD(H)D and Autism

Do you know this? The daily battle at the dinner table. The desperation when your child only eats the "safe" pasta or fries again. Or the silent shame you feel as an adult because invitations to eat feel like running a gauntlet.

The author, Ann Fendler, knows this battle from her own experience. For decades, it was her silent companion, marked by fear and disgust . It was only her late ADHD diagnosis and the subsequent discovery of ARFID that brought the turning point: "Finally, my lifelong struggle had a name".

This book is the result of her personal journey. It is not a medical guide from a doctor, but a compassionate attempt to bundle all the information she had to painstakingly gather over years in therapy, support groups, and the neurodivergence community. It is the book she would have wished for herself at the beginning of her path.

Fendler uncovers a provocative and simultaneously liberating thesis: For many affected individuals, ARFID is not a separate disorder, but the logical, physical manifestation of their neurodivergence.

This book is a compass for an often misunderstood world. It deciphers how the invisible challenges of ADHD (and autism) directly shape eating behavior.

What you will discover in this book:

🧠 The Hidden Logic: Why the neurodivergent brain often perceives food as sensory overload, a threat, or uncontrollable interoceptive chaos.

❤️ The Psychology of Control: How clinging to "safe foods" is not defiance, but a deeply human attempt to gain predictability and autonomy in a chaotic world.

🔬 The Dopamine Connection: The provocative self-medication hypothesis—how the ADHD brain specifically uses highly processed foods to unconsciously self-regulate a chronic dopamine deficit.

🛠️ Practical Strategies for Adults: Concrete tools to master the "Eating Executive" (planning, shopping), survive social minefields (restaurants, dates), and reclaim authority over your own body.

🧒 Help for Parents: Why pressure is doomed to fail. How to build bridges with playful approaches like "Food Chaining" and "Sensory Ladders," and end the battles at the dinner table through co-regulation.

This book is a plea for radical compassion. It is a bridge of understanding that ends the blame and opens the door to a new, empathetic way of being together.