Anyone have a child on the Autistic Spectrum?

[Guest guest]

Just curious? We did the Gluten/Casein free diet for her, and it did

wonders... we are vegetarian at home (kids and hubby sometimes eat

chicken when we go out... gross, I know...)

Although I feel torn about this, there is no point in arguing about it

here...

My daughter improved greatly on a vegetarian diet, but is sort of

declining lately... (We have not gone out to eat in a long time, so I

know it isn't food additives, etc.) We are planning on removing dairy

for 3 weeks to see if there is an improvement. (Dairy clogs my ears,

and makes me feel like I have sinus/upper respiratory problems. She

told me it makes her " brain feel full " , and that she can't think... so,

even with enzymes, no dairy for us anymore...)

I am just curious to see if anyone else has a kiddo who is ASD, and is

vegetarian... I am curious to see what supplements you are using, etc.

 

Thanks,

Aubrey

[Guest guest]

Aubrey,

 

I have 2 sons who are autistic. We stopped all dairy first in 1998, then

went vegetarian in 2003. We finally gave up eggs and honey a year ago.

Each phase improved my boys. Dairy, though, was the biggest improvement

for my older boy (he's 16 now and so improved that we have to tell

people he's autistic, they don't know).

 

I also have both of them on b6 and magnesium supplements. My younger son

(almost 15) is much more severe, but he regresses with any mistakes in

his vegan gluten free diet.

 

Lisa in the Ozarks

[Guest guest]

Hi Aubrey,

I have three kids. My son is 13 and has Asperger's Syndrome. I have two

daughters and both have some ASD symptoms. My ten year old daughter has ADD and

is gifted. My four year old daughter is showing many signs of OCD and is

gifted.

I do understand what you mean about being conflicted. My son nursed for two

years but we began supplementing with cow's milk when he turned one. He drank

three to four gallons a week and we thought it was great because he was getting

so much calcium and protein. It turns out he was just becoming addicted and

ruining his digestion and immune system. We realized he was ASD when he was in

the first grade. We started the diet in the second grade. It took a few months

without gluten or dairy to see the improvement. The changes were subtle but

worthwhile. He stopped getting sick all the time. His ability to focus

improved somewhat. He stopped having nearly constant gas.

Each kid is different and yours may respond more dramatically but for my son it

was more of an improvement in the quality of his life. The diet didn't cure him

but it made life a little easier to manage for him.

The biggest improvement we saw in him - by far- was when we started giving him

regular doses of flax oil. It takes about three months to see the effects. I

was ready to quit at two months because it didn't seem to be doing much but

someone told me to keep him on it for another month and I am so glad I did. It

transformed him. He was a very anxious and obsessive and had a great deal of

trouble staying focused. After three months on flax oil he was no longer

anxious his OCD symptoms became manageable. His ability to focus improved and

his standardized test scores showed great improvement over last year. It you

only try one supplement this would be the one.

We also give him a good quality multi-vitamin, calcium-magnesium-zinc-D2,

probiotic, and a broad spectrum enzyme when he eats a meal. He is thirteen and

as tall or taller than his other classmates. He has poor-muscle tone and I do

wonder sometimes if that would improve if he ate meat but then I remember that I

have poor muscle tone and I ate meat until I was 21.

My youngest saw had very dramatic improvement on the diet. She had unmanageable

sensory issues. She had a meltdown everytime we left the house and often while

we were at home. She also had fairly severe eczema. We removed gluten and dairy

from her diet and her behavior began to improve and her eczema cleared somewhat

but not entirely. After a few months we also removed corn from her diet and

that is when she transformed. Her skin cleared up entirely and most of her

" spectrum " behaviors improved or disappeared.

I think the diet is worth doing but generally you have to remove dairy and

gluten for ASD kids. It also takes about three months to really give it a

chance. The best group for support is GFCFKids . You can

definitely get any questions answered there. Good luck. Renee

 

 

[Guest guest]

I do. We have not gone the casein free route yet. He's nineteen.Lori

 

 

, " Aubrey "

<hypnotist_collectr wrote:

>

> Just curious? We did the Gluten/Casein free diet for her, and it did

> wonders... we are vegetarian at home (kids and hubby sometimes eat

> chicken when we go out... gross, I know...)

> Although I feel torn about this, there is no point in arguing about it

> here...

> My daughter improved greatly on a vegetarian diet, but is sort of

> declining lately... (We have not gone out to eat in a long time, so I

> know it isn't food additives, etc.) We are planning on removing dairy

> for 3 weeks to see if there is an improvement. (Dairy clogs my ears,

> and makes me feel like I have sinus/upper respiratory problems. She

> told me it makes her " brain feel full " , and that she can't think... so,

> even with enzymes, no dairy for us anymore...)

> I am just curious to see if anyone else has a kiddo who is ASD, and is

> vegetarian... I am curious to see what supplements you are using, etc.

>

> Thanks,

> Aubrey

>