Boy with Autism Gets Recipe for Favorite Waffles After Production Ceased

Jenna Roman started a GoFundMe in February to search for a specific brand of waffles for her ten-year-old son with autism, who has been struggling with eating challenges since he was eight months old.

Roman explained to CBS News that her son, Jerico, regressed in 2020 after he was sickened with what she thought was the coronavirus. He did not eat for 12 days and “had regressed so much he had to relearn how to drink and eat,” Roman said.

“He was diagnosed with autism at two years old,” the single mom-of-three told Today Food. “He’s struggled with this eating challenge since eight months ago. We have worked with so many feeding therapists, but he regresses when he is sick and we have to start all over again.”

The only food he could stomach was waffles. But Jerico’s favorite waffles were not available due to production issues during the pandemic.

His mother had him try various brands of waffles until he was able to stomach the maple-cinnamon waffles from the Canada-based brand Nature’s Path.

But eventually, Nature’s Path discontinued the maple cinnamon waffles, which motivated Roman to create a GoFundMe page to obtain waffles for her son.

She created the page to ask others to donate any boxes they find in stores before the product is sold out forever.

Since she launched the GoFundMe page, several people have sent her boxes of Jerico’s favorite waffles. Roman got so many boxes she had to purchase two extra freezers to store them all.

Nature’s Path also adapted their waffle recipes so they could be made from home and delivered the recipe to Roman’s family.

Samantha Falk, Nature’s Path’s communications director, told CBS News she personally delivered the recipe and the ingredients for it to Roman and Jerico.

As for Jerico, he has yet to taste the recipe, and his mom intends to keep it that way for as long as possible.

“Honestly he has no clue any of this is going on, because it would trigger more anxiety for him around eating,” she said, adding she does not intend to tell Jerico when she begins to serve the homemade waffles.