At the turning point ....need advice

[Guest guest]

Hi Moira:

That's a very interesting point about the sensory issues. My son is 5 with

ASD on the mild end and we haven't started the diet yet either because our

developmental ped. told us that it probably wouldn't help him. I've been

following along on this site because I'm not sure the dr. is right. I've

since heard another dr. (who has an autistic child) say you're crazy NOT to

try the diet. What could it hurt and it might help. My son has big time

sensory issues and I never even thought about the diet helping those. Good

point. Thanks.

Lucy, mom of Billy, ASD, and 3 proud big sisters

[Guest guest]

,

I'd love to hear other families benefits.

Kathy

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

My wife and I just got back from seeing an Autism specialist here in

Oregon and we are preparing to go on the the GFCF diet. We are going

to get our son 's urine/stool examined over the next week or so,

the specialist explained more about the diet and his suggestions for

doing the diet. These are the concerns that my wife and I have right

now, and I guess I would like your opinion on it. Our son is

high functioning and has been involved with EI / S.T.A.R. program

since we found out that he was Austic in 98. He has never had a

sleeping problem since he was born (sleeps fine every night, just

like clockwork), he has never had a chronic digestive problem (always

had and has normal B.M.'s). He is showing improvement with the work

were doing at home and at school. We are just afraid that since we

are so fortunate to have all of the above stated things that if we go

on this diet it may make things worse. We are at the turning point

right now and I am looking at all the advise and information I can

get. I've been on the GFCFdiet.com site and have been reading all of

the success stories, most of which had kids with sleeping / digestive

problems to begin with which case they really had nothing to loose.

What are your thoughts on our situation?

[Guest guest]

I say give it a try. We have a very mildly affected daughter and

three drs. said the diet wasn't necessary bc she had normal bowel

habits-or whatever they called it. We did it anyway and will never

look back. Her sleep was a problem, it improved. Overall health

improved. It is really just healthy eating and once you make it past

the first few weeks, it's easy. Give it a try. What do you have to

lose? We didn't see regression BTW.

Janelle

Jane 2 PDDNOS

1 NT

[Guest guest]

> Hi All,

>

> My wife and I just got back from seeing an Autism specialist here

in

> Oregon and we are preparing to go on the the GFCF diet. We are

going

> to get our son 's urine/stool examined over the next week or

so,

> the specialist explained more about the diet and his suggestions

for

> doing the diet. These are the concerns that my wife and I have

right

> now, and I guess I would like your opinion on it. Our son is

> high functioning and has been involved with EI / S.T.A.R. program

> since we found out that he was Austic in 98. He has never had a

> sleeping problem since he was born (sleeps fine every night, just

> like clockwork), he has never had a chronic digestive problem

(always

> had and has normal B.M.'s). He is showing improvement with the

work

> were doing at home and at school. We are just afraid that since we

> are so fortunate to have all of the above stated things that if we

go

> on this diet it may make things worse. We are at the turning point

> right now and I am looking at all the advise and information I can

> get. I've been on the GFCFdiet.com site and have been reading all

of

> the success stories, most of which had kids with sleeping /

digestive

> problems to begin with which case they really had nothing to

loose.

> What are your thoughts on our situation?

Well -

My boy had no sleeping problems either before we started the diet.

Also, we didn't have noticable poop problems - however, he was

constipated and sometimes had trouble passing a BM. I didn't think

much of this, but now realize it was due to his very high consumption

of dairy - gallons of milk a week (and I do mean gallons) and lots

and lots of cheese. The only thing that happened as far as things

getting worse was a short period of withdrawal - and some night

terrors. This was about a week or so in length. Our son was 3 at the

time. When the withdrawal was over we saw some really great things.

Increased attention, increased eye contact, a jump in language, and

overall our son was less stoned looking and more " present " - also, he

began to feel pain. We hadn't really noticed that he wasn't feeling

pain. He just seemed like he was a tough little guy who could walk

off a bump and keep going. Well, I think he was too stoned on gluten

and casein to feel it when he bumped his head. After he got " cleaned "

up - we noticed that he would look surprised if he bumped into

something, and rub the spot he bumped and sometimes, if he took a

good spill, would cry and want to be comforted.

Also, he started to run more. We didn't notice that he wasn't one of

those kids who ran everywhere - but when he started running around we

realized that it wasn't normal that he wasn't running everywhere

before.

These things are subtle, but the all go towards an overall sensory

issue that was masked by the fact that these foods seemed to cloud

him over. He was foggy and withdrawn, but clearing up his system

brought him back to us. The therapies are much more effective now

that he is clearheaded.

I hope this helps.

Moira

mom to Vico (4.5 ASD) and Culzean (18 months)

[Guest guest]

My son has never had a sleeping problem. He never drank milk though

he did like yogurt and cheese. I took him off both gluten and casein

at the same time the middle of Sept. My son had been in group

therapy for a few weeks by then. At the end of the first week of the

diet, one of his therapists pulled me aside and asked me what I did

different. I asked her why. She said my son seems to have all of a

sudden " come of the fog " . He went from sticking to one activity in a

session to going from activity to activity and therapist to

therapist. It was like he all of a sudden noticed the world around

him. Before the diet, he had very poor eye contact. Now he has

excellent eye contact. Most of his stims are either gone or greatly

reduced. Last night I was noticing that when he is in the living

room while the family is watching TV, he does not play with his toys

much. He now goes from family member to family member hugging,

staring in our eyes, kissing and wrestling. Three weeks into the

diet he had an infraction. In class he stole 1 goldfish from another

kid. By the time I picked him up he had the worst smelling diahrea.

On the ride home he cried most of the time. It was difficult to feed

him lunch because he could not stop crying and screaming for the next

2 hours. He is usually quite a happy little boy - even before the

diet. It took about a week for him to get back his eye contact and

overall awareness of the world. Over this last weekend I bought him

a dress-up Larry (from VeggieTales video series). I thought it would

encourage pretend play. When I opened the box he looked in, pulled

out a hat and put it on my head! Not only was he doing pretend play

but he was doing it while interacting with me! I believe I owe it

all to the diet. The thing about the diet is it de-fogs the brain so

the child can learn. Therapy is great but is much more effective

when the brain is clear. Just to think I dismissed the idea but some

of the ladies on another list bugged me so much that I could not

longer avoid it.

> Hi All,

>

> My wife and I just got back from seeing an Autism specialist here

in

> Oregon and we are preparing to go on the the GFCF diet. We are

going

> to get our son 's urine/stool examined over the next week or

so,

> the specialist explained more about the diet and his suggestions

for

> doing the diet. These are the concerns that my wife and I have

right

> now, and I guess I would like your opinion on it. Our son is

> high functioning and has been involved with EI / S.T.A.R. program

> since we found out that he was Austic in 98. He has never had a

> sleeping problem since he was born (sleeps fine every night, just

> like clockwork), he has never had a chronic digestive problem

(always

> had and has normal B.M.'s). He is showing improvement with the

work

> were doing at home and at school. We are just afraid that since we

> are so fortunate to have all of the above stated things that if we

go

> on this diet it may make things worse. We are at the turning point

> right now and I am looking at all the advise and information I can

> get. I've been on the GFCFdiet.com site and have been reading all

of

> the success stories, most of which had kids with sleeping /

digestive

> problems to begin with which case they really had nothing to

loose.

> What are your thoughts on our situation?

[Guest guest]

LJ didn't have sleeping problems either and also seemed to be on the HF

side of autis\m. He is doing fantastic with the diet (since April of

2000) and I feel that I made the right choice and am helping my son in a

healthy way and without medication.

in New York (LJs mom)

*

On Tue, 30 Oct 2001 18:49:44 -0000 marknora@... writes:

.. Our son is

> high functioning He has never had a

> sleeping problem since he was born (sleeps fine every night, just

> like clockwork), he has never had a chronic digestive problem

> (always

> had and has normal B.M.'s). He is showing improvement with the work

> were doing at home and at school. We are just afraid that since we

> are so fortunate to have all of the above stated things that if we

> go

> on this diet it may make things worse. > What are your thoughts on our

situation?

>

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[Guest guest]

Hi Lucy -

Glad to be of help. I always tell folks that it doesn't hurt to try

the diet. Give it a really good effort for 3 months and see what you

see. Our biggest proof that it was working was when my son got

something he shouldn't have. The eczema came back, the tantrums, the

spacey behavior, the lack of eye contact. We used to say that if he

got gluten or casein he turned into " Autism Boy " - it was strange,

but it motivated us to keep going. So - do it for 3 months, once you

are sure you have even the hidden gluten out - and then do a

challenge and see what happens.

Good luck!

Moira

mom to Vico (4.5 ASD) and Culzean (18 months)

> Hi Moira:

> That's a very interesting point about the sensory issues. My son

is 5 with

> ASD on the mild end and we haven't started the diet yet either

because our

> developmental ped. told us that it probably wouldn't help him.

I've been

> following along on this site because I'm not sure the dr. is

right. I've

> since heard another dr. (who has an autistic child) say you're

crazy NOT to

> try the diet. What could it hurt and it might help. My son has

big time

> sensory issues and I never even thought about the diet helping

those. Good

> point. Thanks.

> Lucy, mom of Billy, ASD, and 3 proud big sisters

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks -that's what I wanted. My son is casein free and was gluten free

for about 3 wks. I didn't notice much but at least now I know specifics to

look for. The problem was I was so stressed trying to figure out what to

feed him that he'd actually eat and then he developed loose bms from corn. I

want to try again but I'm terrified of the allergies that may arise. After

being on gluten again he can tolerate the corn (stange?) He does seem more

in his own little world but that's about all I notice. Any thoughts? What

is your child's diet consist of?

[Guest guest]

Moira:

Thanks for the encouragment. My 3 older kids are DREADING it. They keep

asking me when are we going to start the diet! Maybe we'll all be healthier!

Thanks again.

Lucy

[Guest guest]

Moira:

Thanks for the encouragment. My 3 older kids are DREADING it. They keep

asking me when are we going to start the diet! Maybe we'll all be healthier!

Thanks again.

Lucy