Emily Simpson revealed a worrying issue regarding her son Luke during the Real Housewives of Orange County Season 19 premiere. At the time of filming, the 10-year-old was newly diagnosed with Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, or ARFID.
Emily was understandably distraught. But now, armed with knowledge and the help of specialists, the RHOC star is getting a handle on how to manage Luke’s diagnosis. She’s been met with tremendous support from fans and the online community as well.
How RHOC star Emily Simpson’s son Luke is managing his food issues
“Luke is doing much better than when we were filming,” Emily exclusively told E! News. “That was a huge stress for him and also he’s not in school, which was another big stress for him.”
She continued, “He has some ADHD and OCD. He has a very severe separation anxiety when it comes to me and we’ve worked really hard to alleviate that. He’s much more comfortable with me going leaving and coming home now.”
The RHOC veteran, and husband Shane Simpson, learned to avoid pressuring their son to eat more, on the advice of specialists. Right now, Luke will “only eat three to four different things.”
“Before I understood the disorder and what was actually happening in his brain, we would get frustrated with him that he wouldn’t try different foods,” Emily explained. “I made a lot of mistakes along the way. Now we know that he has safe foods and we always have those in the house. We don’t give him any grief about eating those safe foods that he’s comfortable with and we try to introduce, every once in a while, something new.”
“We sent him to a specialist and we try to get as many answers as we can in regards to that. He does a lot of testing. There are many more conversations,” Emily concluded.
Catch Real Housewives of Orange County Thursdays at 9/8c on Bravo. It streams on Hayu in the UK and Ireland.
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