RDs for Neurodiversity

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RDs for Neurodiversity RDs for Neurodiversity is an education platform that offers training to dietitians and professionals

Our Pediatric Feeding Therapy Program will be opening for registration soon — and we can’t wait to welcome you!We’re so ...
12/09/2025

Our Pediatric Feeding Therapy Program will be opening for registration soon — and we can’t wait to welcome you!

We’re so looking forward to coming together in community, learning alongside one another, and supporting clinicians as they deepen their practice in neurodiversity-affirming feeding therapy.

Too often, feeding therapy prioritizes caregiver convenience over a child’s autonomy. When our interventions are driven by conformity rather than connection, we risk teaching children that their needs are problems to solve rather than truths to honour.

A soft pink tulip field fills the background. In the foreground is a tweet-style quote card that reads:
“Too often, feeding therapy prioritizes caregiver convenience over a child’s autonomy. When our interventions are driven by conformity rather than connection, we risk teaching children that their needs are problems to solve rather than truths to honour.”

We’ve been having such rich and meaningful conversations about food identity—how deeply it connects to safety, culture, ...
09/09/2025

We’ve been having such rich and meaningful conversations about food identity—how deeply it connects to safety, culture, autonomy, and self-expression. Bringing food identity into therapeutic spaces offers a powerful pathway for healing. It gives people permission to honor their lived experiences, reclaim foods that feel authentic, and let go of scripts that may have caused shame or disconnection.

When we center food identity, we shift from prescriptive approaches to collaborative ones. This allows individuals to experience more empowerment around food choices, to explore what feels nourishing and possible, and to begin healing their relationship with food in ways that align with their values and realities.

In this way, food becomes not just about nutrition, but about agency, resilience, and self-compassion—key ingredients for long-term wellbeing.

Non-hierarchical supervision and peer support help clinicians show up with more confidence, ease anxiety about “being he...
04/09/2025

Non-hierarchical supervision and peer support help clinicians show up with more confidence, ease anxiety about “being helpful,” and reduce self-doubt. Reach out if you need support 💕

In this session, we’ll:✨ Reimagine “healthy” eating beyond diet culture and nutritionism✨ Center lived experience, conse...
26/08/2025

In this session, we’ll:
✨ Reimagine “healthy” eating beyond diet culture and nutritionism
✨ Center lived experience, consent, autonomy, and relational safety
✨ Challenge anti-fatness and body hierarchies
✨ Explore food masking, shutdowns, and emotional fatigue
✨ Unpack the double empathy problem at mealtimes
✨ Learn how to co-create connection through shared rituals and mutual respect

Date & time: September 18, 2025 12:00-1:30 pm ET
Register here: rdsforneurodiversity.com

Alt Text (Per-Slide)
Slide 1:
Title slide. Text: Reclaiming Autistic Food Identity: Honoring Inner Experiences, Culture, and Choice — 4-part Course with Naureen Hunani, RD, and Kieran Rose. Website link shown. Subtitle: Honouring Autistic Relationships with Food, Expression, and Moving Together. Part 3 of the Autistic Food Identity Series. Date & time: September 18, 2025 12:00-1:30 pm ET. Website: rdsforneurodiversity.com.

Slide 2:
Text: Redefining “Healthy” — What does a healthy relationship with food look like outside of diet culture and nutritionism? This session centers lived experience, consent, personal autonomy, relational safety, and challenging anti-fatness.

Slide 3:
Text: Moving With, Not Against — Instead of “fixing” food behaviours, we ask: How can we move with a person’s needs? How do autonomy and safety shape expression and nourishment?

Slide 4:
Text: Understanding Food Masking — Food masking happens when people eat in socially acceptable ways to avoid scrutiny, shame, or attention, but it often leads to shutdowns, sensory overload, and emotional fatigue.

Slide 5:
Text: The Double Empathy Problem at Mealtimes — Many autistic people lack safe ways to describe their food experiences, and many adults aren’t attuned to their language. This mismatch can cause miscommunication, frustration, and harm.

Slide 6:
Text: Co-Creating Connection — Affirming communication isn’t just about words. We explore how to co-create safe ways to connect through body language, rhythm, shared rituals, and mutual respect.

Slide 7:
Text: Learning Objectives — Reimagine “healthy” eating through an affirming, neurodiversity-centered lens. Describe the impact of food masking and emotional fatigue. Identify the double empathy problem in food interactions. Explore how to co-create safe, attuned communication around food. Website: rdsforneurodiversity.com

Starting next week! Reclaiming Autistic Food Identity: Honoring Inner Experiences, Culture, and ChoiceWith Naureen Hunan...
22/08/2025

Starting next week!
Reclaiming Autistic Food Identity: Honoring Inner Experiences, Culture, and Choice

With Naureen Hunani, RD & Kieran Rose, The Autistic Advocate.
Together, we’ll explore Autistic food culture, challenge harmful narratives, and honor autonomy in nourishment. We hope you can join us!

What feels safe, comforting, or expressive to you matters—even when it looks different to others.RDs for Neurodiversity
21/08/2025

What feels safe, comforting, or expressive to you matters—even when it looks different to others.RDs for Neurodiversity

Here’s some pertinent information for Part Two of our Reclaiming Autistic Food Identity course. Join us for Safety, Sens...
19/08/2025

Here’s some pertinent information for Part Two of our Reclaiming Autistic Food Identity course. Join us for Safety, Sensory Worlds, and Food as Communication with Naureen Hunani, RD, and Kieran Rose.
We’ll explore:
✨ Why autistic food patterns are adaptive responses, not problems
✨ How sensory processing and environmental factors shape eating
✨ The impact of hormonal shifts like puberty, perimenopause, stress, and trauma
✨ Food as a powerful form of communication — and why refusal isn’t defiance
✨ How power and projection influence mealtime experiences

📅 Date & time: August 28, 2025 12:00-1:30 pm ET
🔗 Register here: rdsforneurodiversity.com

This session is for autistic people, families, and professionals who want to understand food experiences through a neurodiversity-affirming lens — no pathologizing, no fixing, just deep respect for lived experience.

Alt text:
Slide 1:
Title slide. Text reads: Reclaiming Autistic Food Identity: Honoring Inner Experiences, Culture, and Choice — 4-part Course with Naureen Hunani, RD, and Kieran Rose. Website link shown. Part 2: Safety, Sensory Worlds, and Food as Communication. Date & time: September 4, 2025 12:00-1:30 pm ET. Website: rdsforneurodiversity.com

Slide 2:
Text: Beyond Behavior — Autistic food patterns are not behavioral problems. They are adaptive responses rooted in sensory regulation, safety, autonomy, and lived experience.

Slide 3:
Text: Sensory Processing Deep Dive — We will explore how sensory processing and dynamic variables such as texture, temperature, smell, and environmental stressors can dramatically alter a person’s experience of food. Website link shown.

Slide 4:
Text: Hormonal Shifts and Food — Puberty, perimenopause, stress, and trauma can change sensory thresholds, food tolerances, and emotional responses to eating. These changes often bring grief, frustration, and overwhelm.

Slide 5:
Text: Food as Communication — Food is language, especially for non-speaking individuals. Refusal, preference, and ritual can be a boundary, a form of protest, or a request for safety. Not defiance; agency.

Slide 6:
Text: Power and Projection — Adult assumptions can distort food-based communication. We examine how power dynamics show up at mealtimes, the impact of adult projection, and what it means to truly listen to embodied expressions.

Slide 7:
Text: Learning Objectives — Describe how sensory input shapes autistic food experiences. Explore the impact of hormonal shifts on food regulation. Reframe refusal and food aversion as meaningful communication. Reflect on the role of power and projection in feeding interactions. rdsforneurodiversity.com

In identity development, a core milestone is learning to make choices and trust one’s own instincts.⁣⁣For Autistic indiv...
15/08/2025

In identity development, a core milestone is learning to make choices and trust one’s own instincts.⁣
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For Autistic individuals, food is often an early and tangible way to exercise that autonomy. ⁣
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Examples include:⁣
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Deciding how food is arranged on a plate to reduce sensory overwhelm.⁣
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Choosing the pace of eating without pressure to “finish everything.”⁣
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Selecting familiar foods during stressful times as a form of self-regulation.⁣
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Refusing certain textures or flavors as a way of honoring bodily cues.⁣
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Creating personal mealtime rituals that feel grounding and predictable.⁣
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Selecting familiar foods during stressful times as a form of self-regulation.⁣
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When this autonomy is respected, food identity develops as part of self-trust (“I know what works for me”).⁣
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When it’s overridden, it can lead to self-doubt and a fractured connection to one’s needs.⁣
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Reclaiming Autistic Food Identity: Honoring Inner Experiences, Culture, and Choice⁣
Join the converstaion ⁣
www.rdsforneurodiversity.com ⁣

Neuroaffirming care isn't a "special accommodation"— it's the baseline every person deserves. Naureen Hunani, RD
13/08/2025

Neuroaffirming care isn't a "special accommodation"
— it's the baseline every person deserves. Naureen Hunani, RD

Slide 1: Reclaiming Autistic Food Identity: Honouring Inner Experiences, Culture, and Choice – 4-Part Series⁣with Nauree...
10/08/2025

Slide 1: Reclaiming Autistic Food Identity: Honouring Inner Experiences, Culture, and Choice – 4-Part Series⁣
with Naureen Hunani, RD, & Kieran Rose⁣
⁣
Part 1: “Who Am I in Relation to Food?”⁣
Unpacking food identity and stigma.⁣
August 28, 2025 | 12:00–1:30 pm ET ⁣
⁣
Slide 2: Key Learnings⁣
Reframing Food⁣
Food is more than nutrition or behaviour.⁣
It is connected to:⁣
⁣
Identity⁣
⁣
Autonomy⁣
⁣
Culture⁣
⁣
Relational safety⁣
⁣
This course explores food as a meaningful expression of self — not something to correct or fix.⁣
⁣
Slide 3: ⁣
Key Learnings ⁣
Understanding Autistic Food Identity⁣
⁣
Autistic food identity is influenced by:⁣
⁣
Sensory needs⁣
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Monotropism⁣
⁣
Comfort⁣
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Resistance to imposed norms⁣
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These are not flaws — they are valid expressions of identity and ways of being.⁣
⁣
Slide 4: ⁣
Key Learnings⁣
⁣
Challenging Pathologized Eating⁣
Cultural, familial, and societal forces shape food preferences.⁣
Autistic eating is often misunderstood and labelled as problematic through a narrow, Western lens.⁣
⁣
Slide 5:⁣
Key Learnings⁣
Concepts We’ll Explore⁣
⁣
Epistemic injustice⁣
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Internalized food stigma⁣
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Masking during meals⁣
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Shame-driven eating patterns⁣
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Together, we’ll explore the underlying forces that shape personal and cultural food narratives.⁣
⁣
Slide 6:⁣
Key Learnings⁣
Reflective Tools⁣
⁣
Use the Food Timeline to uncover layers of eating experiences and identity.⁣
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Practical strategies to help participants and clinicians examine and unlearn internalized food beliefs and scripts.⁣
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Sldie 7:⁣
Learning Objectives⁣
⁣
Define food identity through a neurodiversity-affirming perspective.⁣
⁣
Examine how culture, stigma, and power influence autistic food experiences.⁣
⁣
Identify how masking and epistemic injustice show up in relation to food.⁣
⁣
Engage in reflective practices to explore and reframe personal food stories.⁣
⁣
www.rdsforneurodiversity.com ⁣
⁣

Activism rooted in shame just ends up punishing the very people we claim to be fighting for.Naureen Hunani, RD
08/08/2025

Activism rooted in shame just ends up punishing the very people we claim to be fighting for.
Naureen Hunani, RD

Societal pressure to appear, behave, or eat in “typical” ways often pushes neurodivergent folks to mask their true needs...
07/08/2025

Societal pressure to appear, behave, or eat in “typical” ways often pushes neurodivergent folks to mask their true needs, disconnect from bodily cues, and suppress instincts—fueling disordered eating patterns. RDS for Neurodiversity

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