Has anyone successfully improved picky eating?

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Our son (variously diagnosed ADD inattentive and more recently ASD) is now seventeen. When he was little we sometimes put vegetables (cooked in fat) in a McDonalds box to try and get him to eat them, I think with a bit of success. Over time by experimentation we have found some vegetables he will eat eg for green vegetables broccoli and leeks, so we always buy those even if they are a bit more expensive. He still eats and drinks an unhealthy diet compared to the rest of the family but it is better and you have to do what you can do.

The thing that has made this issue so tricky for me is that it seems like kids like something, then suddenly, they don't!! I guess I've finally learned to accept that because of sensory issues changing up and also normal childhood development, their tastes will change!

A year ago, my son was only really eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, mac and cheese, quesadillas and a few other items. I could get him to eat many fruits and frozen peas as a vegetable. Since then, we've added a lot to what he'll eat, but he'd still be considered picky!

I also don't try to force him to eat foods, but I do ask him to take a bite of new things when we are having them. Even just touching his tongue to it is enough for me sometimes.... depending on what it is i'm asking him to try. We also had a great Special Ed teacher last year in Pre K who would have me send a pb and J sandwich AND lunch money. She'd sit with him at lunch and let him have bites of his PB and J after trying bites of food on his tray. This worked EXTREMELY well for him. He added a few items to his food list... including chicken sandwiches,, chicken biscuits and sausage biscuits (they had breakfast there too). She helped me accept that some of it was sensory. We joked at his last IEP meeting to NEVER and I mean NEVER try to force the kid to eat chili... unless you want to see gagging! And, I've discovered re: sensory issues, he's telling me more and more that acidic and even mildly spicy foods BURN his mouth. So, I really try to be understanding with this.

Now, I'm not crazy about him eating chicken and sausage biscuits every day, but i've started making him homemade biscuits that are multigrain and put turkey sausage on it... so it's not so fatty/salty/etc.

I've also lucked out in finding that there are a number of RAW veggies that he really enjoys. So, with every meal, I put some on his plate... snap peas, carrots, cucumbers and sliced red pepper are the main ones. He consistently eats them and even asks for them now. And, I provide fresh fruit that he enjoys at every meal.

I've stopped trying to make the family meal fit my entire family. I am eating to lose weight, my husband can't eat wheat and my kids are picky!! So, I plan my meals with my husband's dietary restrictions... then, I make something simple but healthy for the kids. I'll put a few bites of whatever my hubby and I are eating on their plates and ask them to try it. My 2 year old was eating pieces of steak yesterday... I couldn't BELIEVE it.

My son was a very picky eater...we now have him help his dad cook, grill, etc...he eats EVERYTHING he cooks...

My son had some of the pesto I made today.

He's made tremendous strides in the past couple of years. Still very frightened of the unfamiliar, but he has several fruits in his "repetoire" now and is doing a bit better with mixed foods and condiments.