I'm an autistic vegan!!

Post Reply New Topic

So Ik particular food preferences are a common thing for many people with autism & Asperger's, but for me, in particular, it seems like I've always had this instinctual aversion to all kinds of meat, including fish and poultry. According to my mom, she even found hamburgers gross, while she was carrying me in the womb, so when I was five and refused to eat a sausage that my parents tried to feed me, I guess my parents finally put two and two together and my whole family switched to an ovo-lacto vegetarian diet in 2005, just around the time I was turning 6 years old!! Honestly, though, I'm so glad that my parents finally decided to go vegetarian; my Dad and big sister kept fish, frogs and snails as pets in aquariums, and one of the biggest and most disturbing culture shocks I ever had was that some of the pets that my family kept at home in aquariums as pets were also eaten by many people as meat. so that went pretty well for quite a few years, but right around 2011, when I was turning 12 years old, things started to change for me, once again. My parents realized that I was never really able to properly digest dairy, and so started looking into lactose-free milk and cheese. At the same time, everyone in my family watched a documentary called the vanishing of the bees that pretty much put us almost entirely off honey after we found out just how cruel the process for farming honey from bees was, so in addition to realizing that I hated the taste of eggs just as much as I hated the taste of meat, it wasn't too hard for me to put two and two together, one again, and realize that I should be vegan. My family was a little slow to catch up, at first, but about a year later we all watched Forks over Knives, and by late 2012, my whole family started transitioning to veganism. admittedly, my mom was faster at adopting veganism than the rest of us, so it took me until 2014 to fully transition to veganism and begin this new way of living and eating. Honestly, transitioning to veganism later than my mom made me feel so inadequate and inferior, basically like I wasn't a good enough vegan. However, my commitment to veganism was once again strengthened just two years later, when my mom introduced me to the Forks over Knives Ultimate Cooking Course in 2016, and, in just three months, changed my life for the better, forever!! That short, three month online cooking course practically introduced me to the Rouxbe Online Cooking School, and so the idea that I could become not just a chef, but a Plant-based and Vegan Chef was planted in my mind!! And then, just as I was starting to finish up getting my GED last year in 2022, I finally bit the bullet and signed up for Rouxbe's professional plant-based certification course, and I gotta say, I don't regret it!! I still have lots to learn about vegan cooking, but I'm already much closer to being the vegan chef that I dreamed I would be back in 2016, and no matter what happens, I'll never regret all of the cooking knowledge I'm already gaining, not to mention all of the cooking knowledge I've still yet to gain!! So that's my journey to veganism, but now I gotta know; are there any other autistic vegans, vegetarians, or plant-based people here, and if so, what are your experiences??

Though I'm not a vegetarian or vegan myself(I'm basically an Aussie T Rex LOL), my eldest daughter has been for a few years now. As a result, I really enjoy creating vegan main meals, desserts & home baked vegan treats, when she comes to stay. I'll post some of the cookbooks I enjoy using ...





The next one I'm planning to buy ...
(has great reviews)


That's so good that you've gone so far as to take a proper cookery course in it, as it's important to ensure it's a balanced diet, as you do need to be careful you're getting what you need. The next thing I promised to make is Vegan Tiramisu(a chef in Venice recently made a Raspberry Tiramisu when my daughter was passing through on her way back to the UK. Said it was the best thing she'd ever tasted! At Christmas, I made blueberry & orange muffins, Vegan cheese with cranberries, a Vegan Blackforest cake, a Vegan Mushroom Wellington etc. The above cookbooks have been wonderful!

Do people give you grief about your choices?

I am an autistic vegan.
I know other autistic vegans and a couple of autistic vegetarians.

Well done! The world needs people like you. After a few years of being vegetarian, I went on a WFPB diet last month and I don’t want to go back. I am feeling great. So much energy. Forks over knives is brilliant. And Dr Greger’s and Dr Barnard’s books, to name but a few. Check the website nutrition facts. People just don’t realize they’re eating themselves to death. Luckily I have always eaten quite healthy, but i wish I had discovered this diet before. Of course most friends think I am obsessed. I think they’re just lazy to change and not enough planet and animals conscious

Yep also autistic vegan here, since 2020
Because:
Animals (rights)
Environment
Health
Human rights
Etc

Id like to go vegetarian some time, but my meals are chosen for me at the moment. My choice is based on doctors advice in cutting down on meat having had various issues like a high iron and protein level in blood.

As a vegan, atheist pilot I never know which one to bring up without prompting first. I need people to know how uniquely special I am.