Glutein and Diary Free Diet?

Hi T.,

Both my boys (and I) are on the gluten free/casein free diet. This website has lots of great info:
http://www.gfcfdiet.com/
We're on the diet because we were diagnosed with celiac disease and a dairy allergy. The diet has also improved my son's behavior. My older son had some Asperger's symptoms (poor eye contact, unable to read social cues, etc.). Aspergers is on the Autism spectrum - these kids are generally very bright, just don't have good social skills. My younger son had alot of ADHD behaviors and while he's still high energy, he has calmed down alot.

You might want to ask your doctors to test your son for celiac as the gluten is known to have neurological impacts and can influence behavior (this is more recent research and not all doctors are aware). You can do the testing yourself through enterolab: www.enterolab.com
The reason why testing might be important is due to the cost and difficulty of sticking to the diet that another poster mentioned.

There is also an excellent doctor in the DFW area that is a member of the DAN organization: Dr. M. Ann Block www.blockcenter.com I had considered taking my boys to her (and I did attend a seminar she held at her office) if I hadn't gotten such positive results from the dietary change and adding some of the supplements she recommends (e.g., B vitamins, magnesium, etc.)

You are a great mom to be considering the influence of diet on your child's behavior!

T.
I hope I can be of some help. I worked with autistic children for a while and noticed that the Gluten free/Casein Free diet did help. It did not cure them of autism but helped them function better which made it easier to work with them. There are books to help you understand the diet and explain what foods a good and bad. If you son does have autism I highly recommend the Son Rise program, it is the program I worked with and saw amazing results in the children. If you can find the book Son Rise the miracle continues by Barry kaufman it documents the journey the author and his wife went through to find a cure for their autistic son. This program not only helps the children but focuses on the parents as well. If you want any more information or just need an ear (I also have two babies) you are welcome to email me.

Hi T.,

Give my girlfriend a call her name is Kristen Estel ###-###-####. She is a behavior specialist and has her daughter on gluten and diary free diet.

Best of Luck!

C. Roeschen
The Trinity Group
Keller Williams
###-###-####
____@____.com
www.TheTrinityGroup.org
www.ValueMyNeighborhoodOnLine.com

Greetings! My son is not autistic, but I tried the diet based on behavioral concerns. What we discovered was that he was lactose intolerant so we simply took him off dairy and were able to add the gluten back in. I think the diet is a wonderful thing to try. I did a research paper on this in college and talked to a lot of moms who had success. The DAN group (Defeat Autism Now) suggest taking casein out first (this is not only in dairy, but used in other things too like the wax coating on apples that makes them shiny)and doing that for a month. Then you remove gluten for six months and see if you notice any changes. It is a very hard diet to maintain due to cost and restrictions. Gluten is in other products than food like the adhesive on stickers or in playdough (except crayola brand) lotions, shampoos, etc. If you want to do the diet you may need support so I might suggest seeking out a mom of a kid with autism who can show you the ropes so you're more likely to have success. Also, there's a book for recipes called Special Diets for Special Kids.. and there's another one called Special Diets for Special Kids Too. They are GFCF cookbooks and a great place to start.

Good luck!

Hi! I have a friend with an autistic son and he is on the gluten free diet. I saw and was around him before the diet and have been around him a lot since he started the diet and I have seen a tremendous improvement in him. It's really amazing. It's not easy but I think the benefits are incredible. You could always try the diet for 6 weeks and see if there has been an improvement. Oh and don't you be the judge of the improvement...let someone who knows your son but is not around him all the time like you are to tell you if they see an improvement. Sometimes the improvements are so suttle that the parents can't see them but others can. O and I also worked with 2 year olds with autism in an early intervention program and that was very beneficial to the kids. I saw big changes in only a few months.

Hi T.,

Our family started the gluten & casein free (GF/CF) diet June '06 with really great results! When our daughter was dianosed with PDD (a mild for of autism) we kept hearing about the diet. I asked our pedi about it and she said,"Oh, for the minor amount of good it would do, it's just too much trouble!" (since seeing our kids post-diet, she's sending people to me for help in getting started)

As one poster said, it has helped with AD/HD kids as well! We have a 12 year old son, and we have taken him off ritalin (we hated that stuff anyway) because the diet has really helped him calm down! Our daughter was pretty much non-verbal before starting. Within 3 days, she was saying her first give and take words, actually having a conversation! Before she had very thick echoing.

We've found our favorite foods and I can help sort things out. We even had stuffing for Thanksgiving! I make pancakes and mini breakfast muffins too. There are places that are okay to eat out. (A HUGE bonus when we figured this out) For example: Chick-fil-A will grill chicken nuggets for you, and their fries are cooked separate from their breaded stuff so it's okay. Add a lemonade, and you've got a GF/CF meal for one happy kid!

There is also a great resource on YOU-TUBE. There is a mom that does GF/CF demo's. We are also soy-free. It can cause some agression issues with special needs kids. It was recommened we do that from our DAN doc (Arturo Volpe in Houston) We drink chocolate or vanilla almond milk. One poster talked about the Special Diets for Special Kids I & II. GREAT books! In there, the author Lisa Lewis talks extensively about Dari-Free. It's a powder that's great to bake with or make into "milk". It's from a potato source. I've talked a store on Bay Area Blvd into carrying it. Also, Erma's in Clear Lake is wonderful too. There are lots of places to shop. I can advise you in that area as well.

It is a bit overwhelming at 1st. But, it's totally worth it! I held a GF/CF Pampered Chef party at my home in October. I had a dozen mom's come, and more that just couldn't make it. Jenny McCarthy talks about GF/CF in her book. (Good book, just a bit salty with the sailor talk)

Good luck, e-mail me, glad to help!

S.