Autism question...

Tigsteroonie

meritaten wrote: »

btw - you can purchase ewes milk yoghurt which even dairy allergic people can tolerate! its nice too!!!!!!

Ooooh, where from? I'm finding it hard enough to track down goats milk yoghurt, the supermarkets here only have one brand which is 'plain' so I have to add puree'd fruit to it so that he'll eat it. Unfortunately I don't have easy access (translation: to buy fresh!) to anywhere other than supermarkets.

sam042013

All I know is never give her a chocolate. Any food that contains chocolate should not be given because it causes hyperactivity.

D&DD

My experience is you need a very big magnifying glass and the patience of a saint
I did however follow a totally clean GF/CF diet with my youngest for approx 5 years and lived to tell the tale.

I spent about a year preparing for the switch,had the Sunderland Urine test done,bought new bakeware so there was no chance of cross contamination etc.

We withdrew the casein first as it was easier then the gluten.
We did however use a regimen of Bvits and Eyeq on top of the diet as well.

I started the diet when he was around 5 and non verbal and had rather challenging behaviour,my personal experience has been very positive and as time has gone on we have been able to re-introduce a certain amount of gluten and casein with no negative effects.

Was it the diet that worked,we'll never know but I felt like I was doing something to try and help him, when all I felt at the time was helpless IYKWIM

I was lucky enough to also have a supportive GP so was able to access GF flours etc on prescription with his and the dieticians help.
I ended up explaining more to her than she helped me with but it was nice to have someone checking up he wasn't missing out on vital stuff.

It is a minefield when you start but thankfully now a lot of info and recipes are available online as well as lists of banned foods.

kingfisherblue

When you have a child with a disability or medical condition, there is often someone who becomes an instant expert and offers advice. They rarely have any medical training . Don't let others make you think that you are not doing the best you can for her. She is your daughter, and you love her regardless of her medical and social needs.

The important thing is to accept your child for who she is, not who she might have been or who others expect her to be.

**Patty**

If there are no issues currently with gut problems, then I would just push it aside.

However, if there are....the Autism Research Unit at Sunderland Uni (Dr Paul Shattock) do a pack which explains all the testing very well.

Like D & DD...my son was tested. He actually turned out NOT to be intolerant to either......so no need for a special diet.

Corelli

When my son was first going forward with his assessment for AS I discussed a dietary approach with the psychiatrist involved with his case. Her take on it was that it was more the intense involvement of the parents that made the changes that some people report.

I don't know, I have seen parents with a daughter with a probable but undiagnosed Autistic Spectrun Disorder who have a very different child to how she was a few years back before they started a dietary approach. I think there was more going on, their parenting style changed a lot during this time.

Personally, I've not been convinced by this approach, not enough to start changing the diet of a very troubled young man with the fixed point of view that AS brings.

barbiedoll

I know a child with Aspergers and he has a lot of food issues but as far as his parents know, it's more to do with sensitivity with his mouth/tastebuds/tongue as opposed to gut problems.
He is very aware of the texture and colour of foods and he cannot eat with other people if they make any noise when eating or if they use their cutlery the "wrong" way. He likes to cut up his food in a certain way, he cannot tolerate certain colours together and so on.

Don't worry too much about relatives and their miracle cures or their internet discoveries. Anyone can write on the internet and profess to be an "expert", you need to observe your daughter, if you think that she is sensitive or allergic to any foodstuffs, contact your GP and get proper tests for her.

And remember, some of the brightest and best minds belong to those who have Aspergers. Your daughter may be different but she is also special. Don't let well-meaning relatives/friends let you lose sight of that.

elsien

Your relatives may also be misremembering the Andrew Wakefield/mmr/gastrointestinal disease controversy and if they start overdoing the advice it may be worth pointing out to them that apart from in the USA lunatic fringe, his research has been discredited.

I was on an autism training course a while back and the advice there was that evidence for changes in diet are anecdotal rather than scientifically proven. May well work for some (possibly in combination with other factors as already said), certainly doesn't work for others. And one factor that you may want to to consider is how much do you remove foods that someone may really enjoy to try to prove it either way?

Mojisola

**Patty** wrote: »

If there are no issues currently with gut problems, then I would just push it aside.

However, if there are....the Autism Research Unit at Sunderland Uni (Dr Paul Shattock) do a pack which explains all the testing very well.

Like D & DD...my son was tested. He actually turned out NOT to be intolerant to either......so no need for a special diet.

Has the Autism Research Unit done any research on the possible link to gut flora? This is different from food intolerances.

meritaten

Tigsteroonie wrote: »

Ooooh, where from? I'm finding it hard enough to track down goats milk yoghurt, the supermarkets here only have one brand which is 'plain' so I have to add puree'd fruit to it so that he'll eat it. Unfortunately I don't have easy access (translation: to buy fresh!) to anywhere other than supermarkets.

Tigster - look at the ingredient list on Greek yoghurt. I used to have to travel miles to a farmers market - but while there I could stock up on Sheeps milk products. Yoghurts, and cheeses (btw - feta cheese is often made from sheeps milk, in the traditional manner, but don't assume ALL feta is sheeps milk, inferior ones are made from cows milk). also I could get soya or goats milk ice-cream!), I used to freeze a lot of them - otherwise the trip wasn't cost-effective!
I considered the extra cost of the special diet for my son worth it - he had very few treats that most kids take for granted. once dairy intolerance is diagnosed you find dairy everywhere! even in tins of spaghetti!
YOU have the internet to research this and many more producers of organic sheep and goats milk products. many of whom do mail order. I didn't have that luxury 25 years ago! but I do know how hard it is to identify a food intolerance (go with your gut instinct). and to get the nhs to confirm it. good luck and if you want to, feel free to pm me about this.

btw - my son is 30 this year and is finally getting tested for adult ADHD/Aspergers! I said to his mental health nurse 'Its only taken 25 years for the medical profession to actually listen to what I said when he was 5 years old!'
I was fobbed off then as a neurotic parent - I was right then, but my poor son has been badly let down because health professionals wouldn't LISTEN to me!