Hi , I have a six year old son who is going through autism evaluations. I suspect that he will be diagnosed with high functioning autism or asperger's syndrome. I was wondering if anyone here has had any success by changing their child's diet. I have read about a gluten free casein free diet and I have wondered if it is actually helpful. MY son tested positive for being allergic to milk but the doctor said not to cut it out unless we noticed an allergic reaction to it. I don't notice anything specifically after he drinks it but I am wondering if it could be affecting his behavior. any advice would be very helpful, this is all very new to me.
Thanks

Yes it most definitely can affect his behaviour. My son isn't allergic to milk but he has a sensitivity towards it. I've been giving him Rice Milk Enriched since it has equal amount of calcium as regular milk. I wouldn't give him soy because of the way it's been processed.

As for your initial question, no one really has the answer to it until you go through a process of ellimination diet. Really, if it turns out the gluten and/or casein is not affecting him, then you can rule it out all together. It's a timely process but once it's done and you've become accustomed in reading labels, it's really not all that bad.

I've done this with my son and it turned out he was reacting to: milk, oranges, corn, additives/preservatives, msg, artificial colouring/flavours and refine sugars. There are other items as well but in moderation, his body can handle them just fine. Once they build up in his body though, I'll see a reaction .. which is what I'm going through right now. I decided to give him pediasure, to help bulk his weight a bit (he's tall) and there are about 5-6 ingredients I knew he was sensitive to but I thought I'd try it out anyway. He's bulked up a bit but after 2 weeks of drinking this daily, I've noticed a reaction. grrr

I don't know why doctors are so insistent that food has nothing to do with behaviour!!

Another thing you might want to include that is known to help children with Autism is B6 vits and Magnesium. Add some Omega oils to the mix and see what happens. Maybe nothing. Maybe a whole lot. You just never know.

I am a single mom fo a little girl who is on the autism spectrum. I am also a teacher of students with autism. I would definetly take him off anything he is allergic too. Most people don't realize children with autism have senses that are much more hightened then ours. We may ignore a discomfort caused by an allergy to milk because we are able to cope. Children who have autism may have behavior issues because they are not able to cope with the slightist discomfort and it will show as a behavior issue. As a parent and a teacher of children with autism. I would stop anything that may cause a discomfort that your child can't verbally tell you about. As far as the no glueten diet. I really think it is a case to case basis. My daughter didn't do well at all because taking out the gluetin enhanced her seizures so it really depends on your child. You can try it and see if it works. Hope this helped a bit.

Shannon