Forgive my question- | Autism PDD
It helps a small number of children with autism. Certian children lack the enzymes to break down milk, as does the general public. Restricting or doing away with dairy can help certian kids. Some kids have improved speech, while others have improved behaviors or skills. Some kids have no improvement. We discussed this at length with the autism specailists at UC Davis MIND Institute before deciding to try it.
I tried this with my DD in 2005 with no difference at all. On the other hand, my sister did this with her son and saw improvements right away. Once he was successful with the dairy free diet (she gives him soy milk and supplements for the calcuim) she started the GF diet. She didn't have any improvements doing the GF diet, and she did for a year. So now he is DF.
3-4 weeks is the minimum amount of time to try any new diet. If after a full month you see no marked improvement, that that diet probably won't show any improvement. If you have access to a dietician, ask them for help. We had some great assistance from the regional center and our doctors office dieticians.
Finding the foods is easier and easier. Most supermarkets have a healthfood section where you can find DF & Glueton & Casin Free products. They have cake mixes, cookie mixes, muffin mixes, peanut butter, bread mix, ceral, etc. Be sure you have decided to make this a way of life. You will have to prepare alot of scratch, so be prepared to spend alot of time doing this. There are some prepared foods, but we found them to be bland or gross tasting. So preparing the food is much better in most cases.
Trader Joes, Whole Foods, etc have excellent selctions. We have found that my DD loves the soy nuts, an alternative to peanuts. They are good, we all like them. We also like the soy bean 'dorito' style corn chips. The waffle & panckae mixes are really good. Its hit or miss with what you will like or not like, but its easy to do these days.
Oh you should try it! 3 weeks is EASY to give up for yoru sweet son!It wont hurt to try it for a few weeks..we did potato milk for Sarah and we noticed enough results that we kept her on it for a year. She was tested and was very high in peptides protiens from glutein(all flours) and casien(all dairy) it was found in her blood, stool and urine...I have an older nt daughter with IBS/ulcerative colitus so both kids are very sensitive to milk products. I limit them now and both have different reactions when given too much. Karen Serossi wrote a book on how she recovered her son with eliminating milk and wheat from his diet and the results were dramatic..the rice milk and potato are both fortified with all the same vitamins, calcium and nutrients as milk so your child would not suffer whatsoever.
It is worth it to see if any positive changes start developing:)
if it is going to make a difference in your child's life, you will notice it within days of removing casein. Worth a try in my opinion.I think it is worth a try ... briefly. I think what used to be Feingold's elimination diet for a few weeks is probably the way to go -- a hypoallergenic diet, with gradual add-backs.
With all due respect, I DO NOT think that 90% of kids will demonstrate positive results. Why? Because there are so many other causes of ASD! I think my daughter for instance has a birth injury, plain and simple. I think a lot of other kids do too.
I think some kids have a genetic predisposition and no changes in environmental factors are going to change how their brain works.
I think some kids have injury due to vaccine exposure.
But I think it is worth a try. I just do not think there is a single way of treating ANY of this, that will work for everyone, or even almost everyone.
I I agree that there ARE many causes of ASD and I certainly did not mean that 90 % get CURED by any stretch as THERE IS NO CURE FOR AUTISM!
research shows, however, that most childrens 'autistic symptoms' are more severe on cows milk.
While I do not think I see very much behavoiral differences in my son withthe GFCF diet, we still do it. We have never done just the diet by itself. We do
Intense ABA as well. I think there is something to be said about taking
casein(milk protein) out of a diet. I personally do not think it is good for you.
My oldest NT/son was lactose intolerant as a baby/small child so it was a no
brainer to put my youngest asd child on the diet just for precautionary
measures. I think the diet is the easiest to implement when it comes to
interventions. The way I look at it, I want to treat the whole child. My son
still has a way to go in terms of finishing up his programs and I have yet to
exhaust the list of interventions to do.
Research also shows that milk is a natural. Make sure that you know your sources!!!
If you read anthropological stuff at all, there are recent studies indicating parallel evolution of lactose toelrance, in many parts of the world.
Milk is and for millenia has been a good and valuable protein source for many, many people. I am not saying it is for everyone, I do not believe that. Just, it has played a huge role in the successful (perhaps TOO successful) propagation and proliferation of our species.
It is not evil. Nor is the dairy industry subversive. Although they ARE trying very hard to sell us their products.
I did not "buy into" the diet thing, especially since we had DAN! and allergy tests done that did not show any gut issues. My son has also never had bowel problems or any problem eating a variety of foods.
I tried the diet anyway...and
I can see some changes in H since taking him off of dairy. It has only been 2 weeks. He is sleeping thru the night instead of waking and moaning between 2am-4am. His focus is better. He is engaging more and playing more appropriately with toys. He is initiating play and interaction frequently for the first time.
When I slipped him some cheese during the week (duh) he was on a complete dairy-high giggling like a drunk! And this is a child who was tested and does not show positive for allergies or high peptides.
so, testing and science may not back this up- but I personally do! It is worth a try. I found the parent experience videos at ARI pretty inspiring (most of these recovery stories are based on the diet):
http://www.autism.com/treatable/index.htm
http://www.autism.com/treatable/recovered/recovered.htm
I nursed Andrew with some difficulties for 5 months. We then slowly switched to milk based formula (I had pumped). After the third one, we switched to soy based formula, Isomil. Later when Andrew was older we switched to Isomil II. Then we tried slowly introducing cow's milk again.
Today he drinks mainly soy milk with some 2% cow's milk. Interestingly, he does not really like cheese, yogurt, or even ice-cream that much...It just may be time to try a strict casein free diet here
For my son who is 5
I have never drank milk. Since I was weened from the breast I did not like milk my mother said. To this day I can not drink milk. I think of it this way...Cow's milk was made for baby cows. LOL So i'ts not a necessity for us to survive by any means. If you all try it with your children (elimination) and it works...then great. There are also great subsitutes that are even more nutritious than cow's milk. If it doesn't then you all can go back to the milk...no big deal right? We tried it with Adam and we thought that it made a difference but when we re-introduced the milk to be sure.....There was no change. So he still has milk with his cereal and chocolate milk occasionally...and grilled cheese.....YUM!! Karrie Could it be anything to do with the GFCF diets that some nutritional approaches advocate ??? GFCF means gluten-free & casein-free. Casein is a type of milk protein. Mechanism how such diets might help in autistic kids ...?? Well those who practice it might give you better insight.
There's a page there devoted specifically to autism. Please visit this site and Google "Dangers of milk" to find out more about this controversial topic. I believe cow's milk is for calves, as do many others who have seen the difference it makes to REMOVE it from their childrens' diets...and their own, as well. There are far better sources of calcium available, as the calcium in milk is very poorly absorbed by most. Sesame seeds, greens like kale and spinach, soymilk, rice milk, and calcium-fortified juices are all better sources than milk, a fact the multi-billion dollar a year dairy industry would not like you to know. I've researched the topic extensively and would be more than happy to share what I've learned. Private message me if you wish.
Breakfast : Envirokids GFCF cereal w/rice milk Fruit orange juice
GFCF Bread toasted with jelly bacon fruit orange juice
GFCF waffles with jelly bacon/turkey sausage fruit juice
Lunch Grilled rice cheese and gfcf bread fruit water or orange juice
gfcf prezels or chips
GFCF pizza with fruit water or orange juice
grilled burger patty with french fries fruit orange juice or water
Dinner chcken tortilla soup with corn chips fruit or veg water
roast chicken gfcf pasta rice cheese sprinkles
fajita's chicken/beef corn tortillas mexican rice
grilled chicken gfcf teriyaki sauce rice fruit
just a sample menu. Incase you are wondering veggies are offered but he
rarely eats it. He gets a lot of supplements in his organge juice.
I have to admit, that I am skeptical of dietary intervention, but I only speak for myself. I had my son on the GFCF diet for a while, and I tried it because a couple of other students in my son's class were on it. It made things worse for my son, and the 2 classmates in his room. Us parents were getting calls because the poor kids were digging in the garbage for some palatable food
. After all, dietary intervention works for some, and not for others. Luckily, my son has no allergies, so his pediatrician advised me to let him enjoy a normal diet, milk included, and to focus on educational intervention, which has the best scientific data to support it.
Of course, if you want to go milk free, it couldn't hurt. You won't know until you try.
best of luck!!
You eliminate ALL milk products...including butter, cheese, etc.. No it is not a vegan diet as they can still eat meats...as long as there is no milk products added to the meat.
I have drank milk everyday, young and old, and over the years in elemntary and middleschool when i was doing good and getting better i drank a ton of milk, i dont know what the theory is behind this but i doubt their is any serious medical evidence to support the throey that whatever is in dairy may help autistc kids improve as did i years back. Now days their are so many different theoryes that some beleive will help autistic kids. I dont know where they come from, cause growing up in the late 80's and early 90's nobody ever heard of such things, and some of them sound quite bizzar, such as something about a clay bath??!!
I seriously beleive that some have the capacity to improve on their own, as I did, with a little support from parents and a few years in special ed. SOme need theripy, and still some will never be able to function well, im not a DR. of course but i have serious doubts on virtually all claims I have heard of to date.
If you do find serious medical evedence to the contrary then great, try it, but the surveys take many years, if not decades to see the impact and see a statistical significanse.
I would like to know this as well.
Skylar drinks loads of milk everyday, I just can't see this being the stem of his issues. But then I have been known to be wrong.
Copyright Autism-PDD.net