RHOC’s Emily Simpson reveals struggles with 10-year-old son’s rare eating disorder: ‘I made mistakes…’
Emily Simpson is focusing on her family now. During her latest interview with E! News, 'The Real Housewives of Orange County' star candidly spoke about her 10-year-old son Luke's diagnosis with a rare eating disorder: Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID), which has not only affected her but also her entire family, husband Shane Simpson, daughter Anabelle and Luke's twin Keller. "When we were deep in it, it was difficult, and I probably didn't spend as much time with Keller and Annabelle as we should have I. Annabelle, because she's so strong and she's a very confident young lady, I felt like she was managing it very well. After, she came to me and said she felt neglected during that time period," Emily said.
Elsewhere in the interview, Emily admitted that she and her husband, Shane, even took the help of therapists and food specialists to help out their son Luke. The Bravo housewife further added, "Shane and I were very engrossed in Luke and parenting him. It was very overwhelming for us." When Emily was asked how her son Keller reacted to his twin's health issues, she said, "I think he saw Luke lash out and behave in ways that were hard for him. I ended up having to put both of them in therapy as well to talk to somebody. I didn't really understand how much Luke was dealing with would affect the other kids, and it did."
Speaking of her son Luke's eating schedule, Emily stated that he still "only eats three to four different things" total. Along with this, Emily mentioned that she and her partner Shane are now better equipped to help out their son Luke with his eating disorder. While sharing an update on her 10-year-old, Emily continued, "Luke is doing much better than when we were filming. That was a huge stress for him, and also he's not in school, which was another big stress for him."
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The reality TV star confessed that initially, she and Shane failed to meet the needs of their son Luke, and they got fed up as Luke wasn't keen on eating new dishes. "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. 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," Emily continued.
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Emily also gave a piece of advice to the parents whose children might be facing an eating disorder just like her son Luke. The 49-year-old explained, "If something seems off or doesn't feel right, find a good therapist and talk to them. There's a wealth of information out there now. Moms aren't wrong. If you feel it in your gut, then you're probably not wrong." All the fans can catch Emily's parenting struggles on 'The Real Housewives of Orange County' every Thursday at 9 pm.
