How Effective is a Gluten-free, Casein-free Diet for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder?

Am I misunderstanding something here? It looks to me like they're trying to suggest the results of an online survey have some kind of scientific relevance?

An online survey? Really?!

The people who voluntarily filled out this survey will very likely be among the passionate parents desperate for results... parents who have for years willfully ignored the lack of scientific evidence to support the use of a GFCS diet for treating autism.

There's nothing "scientific" about such an online survey.

I did not fill out the survey but I can speak from experience. My son has mild aspergers. He was not diagnosed until age 17, however this has been a very long journey. He has been an extremely difficult child since about age 1. As parents we were told to be firmer with him, force him to sleep with drugs, and that we must be exaggerating his behavior problems. At age 11 we discovered that he had celiac disease after going on an allergen free diet. The difference in his behavior was a miracle. He still has some issues but they are night and day. Whenever he eats gluten the behaviors come back. He can actually describe the sensations to me now that he is 17 and much more aware of his body. Trust me he is 6'4" tall and pure muscle and eating 4000 calories a day. Feeding him a gluten free diet is very expensive and I wouldn't be doing it if it didn't help.

I did not fill out the survey but I can speak from experience. My son has mild aspergers. He was not diagnosed until age 17, however this has been a very long journey. He has been an extremely difficult child since about age 1. As parents we were told to be firmer with him, force him to sleep with drugs, and that we must be exaggerating his behavior problems. At age 11 we discovered that he had celiac disease after going on an allergen free diet. The difference in his behavior was a miracle. He still has some issues but they are night and day. Whenever he eats gluten the behaviors come back. He can actually describe the sensations to me now that he is 17 and much more aware of his body. Trust me he is 6'4" tall and pure muscle and eating 4000 calories a day. Feeding him a gluten free diet is very expensive and I wouldn't be doing it if it didn't help.

May I ask, Laura, how did you get your son to change his diet? Our son is 13 and is very phobic when it comes to foods. We encourage him all the time to try new foods (same foods encouraged several times) and he simply will not budge. Just trying to get him to try one bite of a new food has begun WWIII in our house. Have any suggestions?

Son's dxs:

Aspergers

ADHD

Anxiety

I did not fill out the survey but I can speak from experience. My son has mild aspergers. He was not diagnosed until age 17, however this has been a very long journey. He has been an extremely difficult child since about age 1. As parents we were told to be firmer with him, force him to sleep with drugs, and that we must be exaggerating his behavior problems. At age 11 we discovered that he had celiac disease after going on an allergen free diet. The difference in his behavior was a miracle. He still has some issues but they are night and day. Whenever he eats gluten the behaviors come back. He can actually describe the sensations to me now that he is 17 and much more aware of his body. Trust me he is 6'4" tall and pure muscle and eating 4000 calories a day. Feeding him a gluten free diet is very expensive and I wouldn't be doing it if it didn't help.

Yeah I know. My son is in his 30's now. I have celiac and now I know he has it. I had a hell of a time with him since he was a baby. He cried all the time and I mean all the time.

If I had known this things would be different today. We both had these issues with this and did not know it. Now his life is a mess and he is still eating gluten. He has no money for nothing now as he don't have a job.

I think it is sad. I still get sick. He still eats gluten and does not stop as he can't afford an other foods.

Sad If I had known it could have been different for him at least.

This article is very subjective. Parents of kids with PDD may perceive all kinds of changes when they try different treatments that can be caused by many factors. I work with a physician who did a small study (randomized controlled trial) on the GFD in kids with autism and found no change in behavior. In these situations, randomized controlled trials are what is needed to show if the GFD truly has benefit for these patients.

We too have had very positive results by using the gluten-free diet for our son now 17 with an ASD. The positive results were so pronounced that they were noticed by teachers, family and friends. Anyone that has seen the difference in him is a believer. I find it sad when one feels we have to wait for science to give us the assurance to pursue something that is so harmless and may have such a strong impact.

I did not fill out the survey but I can speak from experience. My son has mild aspergers. He was not diagnosed until age 17, however this has been a very long journey. He has been an extremely difficult child since about age 1. As parents we were told to be firmer with him, force him to sleep with drugs, and that we must be exaggerating his behavior problems. At age 11 we discovered that he had celiac disease after going on an allergen free diet. The difference in his behavior was a miracle. He still has some issues but they are night and day. Whenever he eats gluten the behaviors come back. He can actually describe the sensations to me now that he is 17 and much more aware of his body. Trust me he is 6'4" tall and pure muscle and eating 4000 calories a day. Feeding him a gluten free diet is very expensive and I wouldn't be doing it if it didn't help.

My son is 24 and was diagnosed with aspergers at 15. He is also deaf. He has always had stomach issues and now I am wondering if this isn't the reason. His behaviors are worse some days than others. Can this diet help to change behaviors after all of this time?