When Salt Turns Bitter and the Tablecloth Must Be Blue. On Food in Autism
When Salt Turns Bitter and the Tablecloth Must Be Blue. On Food in Autism

Summary/Abstract: The article presented herein forms a part of the broad and rich trendof anthropological research on corporeality. The detailed problem undertaken bythe author is the issue of eating disorders evinced by people with autism. Foodis understood here as a broad and diverse set of practices, reactions and formsof behaviour. The topic is discussed from the perspective of an anthropologist,with reference to concrete examples derived from several sources, i.e. selectedbiographical/autobiographical reports concerning the question of living with autism,materials collected during field research conducted since 2013 in the “Jaś iMałgosia” Foundation in Łódź and the author’s personal contacts with people withautism spectrum disorders. The reflections focus on the influence of the senses onthe autists’ consumption practices, considering that autists certainly overstep thelimits of the culture of food consumption accepted in their community, underminethe normative order of this culture and develop their own eating-related forms ofbehaviour and rituals, which are often undesirable from the point of view of thecommunity in general.

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