Regarding my thread on Diets

February 18, 2011

Thank you all for your responses to my post on GFCF diets. I started a new

thread because I honestly didn't know where to jump in! I think that thread has

taken on a life of its own- LOL! The lively discussion my inquiry sparked was a

bit more than I expected but I think it cuts right to the heart of who we are as

parents of special needs children: we are so passionate about doing what is

right for our kids that it brings out very strong opinions in us. For my own

part I struggle between a firm belief in scientific fact and the notion that

" There are more things in Heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your

philosophy " . There is so much the doctors and scientist don't know about autism

yet and so called " anectodal " information ends up being very important in the

end even though it is often discounted. I even saw a piece on tv (maybe 60

minutes?-don't remember...) about a convention of child psychiatrists who

convene every year to compare notes on what works in their practices so they can

create a body of data and that becomes the prescribing guidelines for the

pediatric population! Research can be a glacial process and it often has a

" grassroots " genesis in so-called anectdotal data. In any event, I try to keep

level-headed whenever I seek a course of treatment for DS and try not to go off

" half-cocked " just because something sounds enormously promising. To say that

an elimination diet has no ill-effects is not entirely true because I know that

DS will never sit down to a cup of collard greens to make up for the calcium he

won't be getting from his usual cup of milk. LOL That said, all risks and

benefits must be weighed. I have decided that we will have him tested for food

allergies (gluten and casein) through an allergist. If he has allergies they

should be treated and that is quite simply the bottem line. He has some

sypmtoms (constipation, keratosis pilaris) so there is reason to suspect the

possibility in addition to his autistic and mood symptoms. If any of the latter

might be alleviated by diet, it would be a godsend but as I say, an allergy

should be treated regardless. I would feel that way if it were strawberries.

I don't know whether I hope he is negative or positive. I don't relish going on

the diet but I am always on the lookout for things that might improve DS's

quality of life. I guess that makes it a toss-up. If his tests come back

negative I know that I will not pursue the diet and I will never look back.

Without hard science I cannot justify making that kind of life change. BTW I

loved the red popsicle story too. I do feel we as parents can be susceptible to

the placebo-by-association-effect. We want something to work to much that we

believe it does. I give DS a GABA supplement to avert overstimulation and I

swear it helps him but honestly I can't say for sure that there isn't a placebo

effect at work- maybe on both of us. At least I know now he can handle more

stuff so for now we are stocking up on it! LOL Oh well, we all do the best we

can, right? Thanks for all your input.

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