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

by Ann Fendler

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 "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 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

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

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

🔬 The Dopamine 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 Concrete tools to master the "Eating Executive" (planning, shopping), survive social minefields (restaurants, dates), and reclaim authority over your own body.

🧒 Help for 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.

142 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 14, 2025

Reviews

[Kayla]

“While "Picky Eating" is a small but stable castle of accepted foods, sufficient for survival and thriving, ARFID is a fortress whose walls are so high and supplies so scarce that basic sustenance and participation in life outside the walls are endangered.”

This was quite enlightening, honestly.

[Susie]

Informatative

[B Kremer]

A helpful overview for those unfamiliar with ARFID - especially parents or guardians of children who have ARFID.
Wish the cover wasn't AI art :/