This para caught my eye:
"Fate Riske, 3, of Fond du Lac, Wis., takes two antipsychotics and a sleeping medicine to control what her mother, Elizabeth Klein-Riske, said were hours-long tantrums, a desire to watch the same movies repeatedly and an insistence on eating the meat, cheese and bread in her sandwiches separately."
Correct me if I'm wrong but tantrums are quite common in 3-year olds, and yes, they can last a while if the parents do not know how to help the kids contain them. Wanting to watch movies over and over? Sure. Why not? It's kind of like a pacifier. As for foods not touching each other, that's one of the commonest childhood fears/requests. Why fight it?
My son did not want foods touching each other until he was a teenager. My daughter who was thirteen yesterday will allow touching, but still eats her food one item at a time: first the rice, then the broccoli, then the salmon.
It seems to me that it's not the kids who are insane.
Joanna