How a Gluten-Free, Casein-Free Diet Helps Kids with Autism

When a parent receives a diagnosis of autism for their child, whether their child has autism, pervasive development disorder, or Asperger Syndrome, the impact of that doctor's diagnosis can be immediate and striking. For some parents, the diagnosis is a relief; finally, there is a name for the hundreds of abnormal behaviors they've noticed in their child, and the diagnosis means that a treatment plan can be put in place. For other parents, massive grief sets in; no one wishes an autism diagnosis on their child, and for these parents the doctor's words may be overwhelming, treatment plans seem too much, and the world seems to stop.

Parents choose different treatment paths, too, when confronted with a diagnosis of a developmental disorder in their child. Some kids have regressive autism, in which the child's development was normal to fifteen or eighteen months and then they regress. Other kids are diagnosed with PDD-NOS: pervasive developmental disorder--not otherwise specified, which is a very fancy way of saying that the child has some of the behaviors noted in autism, but not enough to meet the criteria for autism. Still other children are diagnosed with classic or classical autism: non-verbal, rocking, spinning, or stimming, often incontinent, and in a world of their own. Asperger Syndrome diagnoses also come with different behaviors. Children can be academically advanced but severely socially impaired, or have coordination disorders that make them look like "klutzes" or "lazy slouchers."

All of these diagnoses, as different as they are from each other, are considered autism.

And all, researchers, parents, and doctors are learning, can be helped to some degree with a gluten-free, casein-free diet. While not every child can find improvement, some children with every conceivable diagnosis on the spectrum find improvement--either incremental or monumental--when their parents put them on the gluten-free, casein-free diet.