Does the Diet Work? | Autism PDD

DOES THE DIET WORK?

I havent posted since December 2006 when my son (at 18 months old) was diagnosed. Since then he has rec'd countless hours of ABA, OT, and Speech. I have seen tremendous improvement in eye contact, socialization, and even verbalization. But he's clearly behind the NT kid for his age. I am so proud of him. To be so young, and work so hard. My wife and I are now looking into additional therapies that would help stomp out the disorder.

A few friends have suggested the GF/CF diet. I see on the message board a number of conversations around the topic. I read about ways to make tasty pizza that meets the diet, how kids have coped with the withdrawal, etc. But I didn't really see much in line with results. The people we have spoken to swear by it - but when I research the diet, the doctors aren't so sure re: effectiveness. Not that I really care about the doctors anyway - just b/c science hasn't proven it (yet!) doesnt mean it doesn't work.

So, like I did on that fateful day when I first realized that my little guy was on the spectrum, I turn to you folks for advice. For the field research is happening in each of our homes, all day long, and I don't think there's a better forum then the one where mom's and dad's congregate.

So, does the diet work? what have you seen? what were your concerns when you turned to it, and how did you overcome those fears?

Thanks for reading. Thanks for caring. I wish your families all the best.

i guess you won't know until you try it.. I do not do the diet since my son is very mild. But my best freind does the diet and her son is severly autistic and she swears by it i have seen such improvemnet in him over the last 8 months it is amazing he nows talks in sentences and he is alomost 6 and never talked before.. My cousin doe sthe diet with her 5 year he has PDD and he has made great changes he used to scream all day long and throw himself around now he has stopped he talks more and he is now in a regualar kindergarden part of the day and seems to be doing well with all areas.. Some say it dosen't work some love it.. It is your choice it never hurts to try to make your son's life better right.. The MILK FREE DAIRY FREE casien part is HUGE in my opinion and my son is so worse with even a drop of dariy - i also personally know 11 people on it - helped every one of their kiddos as well - and know of another 30 doing it with success.....i have not met a person who has said they ever regretted taking milk completely away! wheat is not as vital, but it is good to try it, too....try one at a time, starting with any and all dariy - read labels - lots of chips and bread and crackers and cookies are full of dairy, good luck and please let us know!

It depends on the child. We did it and I never saw any changes in him. Actually, at 2y I put him on dairy free. He had chronic diarrhea and my Dh seems to have that problem also. So I did a short challenge test. Stopped the dairy for 5 days. Within 3 days--diarrhea was gone. As sson as I added it back---diarrhea within 24 hours. So he was on that until about 4yo. Then he seemed to outgrow it--no more diarrhea.

Later in his life--6yo, we did both GF/CF and saw no changes in him at all. I gave him a huge loading dose after 3 months of gluten free. He told me he didn't feel any different and he didn't act or look any different.

I will probably try it again later. Maybe it will work since he's older.

Thank you both (danyell782 & autumn) for replying so quickly!

Just out of curiosity, did you start the diets, and know people who did, because the of gastro-intestinal problems? allergies? or, simply b/c it's another therapy?

I ask b/c my boy is fine digesting dairy and bread - he loves eating both!

thanks

We did the GF/CF diet for a year along with fish oil, DMG, and other biomedical things as well as VB/ABA and the biggest changed noticed right off from the diet was her awareness of us and eye contact..that was enough to keep us honest and keep her on it...after a year we slowly weaned her off with no side effects altough I do think too much milk makes her whiney:P Good luck!It did not seem to make much of a difference to us but it does not hurt to try It is not harmful, so if you want to, give it a try. There are lots of people who swear by it, as well as plenty of folks who say there was no change. You won't really know until you try. Our dd has MSPI, so she's been dairy free from 4 mos of age. It can be very tricky, just an fyi, as milk is hidden in LOTS of things. Make sure, also, that your son gets the appropriate nutrition, especially calcium. I would seek out a nutritionist for guidance.

I tried the diet with my 4 yr old 2 yrs ago for one year...it helped with eye contact and brain fog..I wanted to test for celiac, so we came off and the eating problems got worse...we went back 4 mo later and started another diet too after testing for oxalates and yeast as well as GC Peptides (he had casein peptides)...He also has yeast and oxalate problems so now we do Low Oxalate and GFCF...brain fog seems to be a big improvement as well as controlling yeast....I found that one diet doesn't produce good results...Low Oxalate diet help repair their gut and lessen rigidity as well as improving motor skills.. I think the key is in combining diets

My 10 yr old went on the same diets, but I noticed more of a gastro issue...when he ate no gluten he actually had an appetite...casein gives him a tight stomache (food sensitivities)....usually a good sign for the diet is loosy stools or constipation...he had constipation for years....also eating too much of one food group....for my 4 yr old it was peanut butter and my 10 yr old loved sweets all the time!!!

We started it in May 06. My son who is 3 is still on it. Going GFCF has removed his problems with gastro issues (he was always const. or pure water diar. one extreme or the other) He has had no more seizures. He has started talking again, and not stopped- he lost speach for about 8 months, he is totally on track for speach now. He used to stare all the time with his jaw dropped, drooling, not in 9 months now. He would only toe walk, thats gone. He used to scream at night in his sleep, crying, holding his head (?) thats gone. There is SO much that has changed for us. The milk was huge, we did that for 7 months, then we went off gluten. We did gluten because we saw some gut issues that milk didn't totally resolve and it totally helped going off gluten too.

The last times we did a food challenge, he had a seizure after eating bread, and when we did a table spoon of milk, he didn't talk for 3 days and became very withdrawn.

I know everyone is skeptical. Thats great! But, after our last 18 month ordeal, for our son, we are fully convinced it is all worth it.

We have just begun to try it. I am going for the "taca" 10 weeks to gf/cf, as it is taking a while to get the hang of it and it seems the withdrawls will be lessened (www.tacanow.org). So far I see some behavior improvements and a bit better focus. Until we are completely off for a week or so, I can't say for sure what the end result will be.Sharlet doesn't seem to have a problem with wheat or dairy, it's a huge part of her diet, which is extremely restricted at times. I really don't think I could remove it from her diet if I wanted too. i think GFCF works for SOME kids. Definitely not all In my opinion. I agree with Allegra. I don't think that my son eats any differently than any other 6 year old (well, he doesn't eat vegetables

), but he loves his chicken nuggets, pizza, grilled cheese, peanut butter and jelly, chips, etc.

His diet is not restricted, and he continues to progress with age and education. I have friends whose kids ARE on the diet. They are doing well, but whose to say if it was the diet, education, combination of both? I also have friends whose kids are on the diet, and they saw no change in behaviors or learning potential. They actually felt that their kids' behaviors worsened because they were hungry, and would rummage through garbage at school. So I guess it depends on the child.

nakama
We do the diet and have been doing it for over 2 yrs now. How much does it
help? My son did not seem to have an immediate improvement after we
implemented the diet. We continue with the diet because for us it is easy to
do. He does however have runny stools when an infraction occurs. I would
recommend that unless you know that yr child is not sensitive to soy, that
you use rice based products or potato based products. (My son tested very
sensitive to soy) I know of a lot of families who are helped by the diet. As a
parent, I think it is worth trying. As Faithinhope stated TACA has very good
information about how to start the diet. You may want to look at a book
"Special Diets for special kids" by Lisa lewis. There are some forums for
GFCF diets and recipes as well.We tried it with Jayden and didn't notice any difference in him.

Diet worked for us. Started sleeping through the night peacefully and became more interested in and less foggy with learning, better eye contact, less stimming like mouthing of objects and humming. Worth all the pain in the neck effort in my opinion, and it is a pain some days. My friend's son stopped screaming and is doing very well in reg Kindergarten, so needless to say she is a fan of the diet.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND TRYING THE DIET for at least 3 months- pay attention to the details of how to implement it and take notes on your child's behavior everyday. Changes were very small and incremental, but happened for us. Check out the Special Diet for Special Kids book.