Is a gluten and casein free diet any use for milder forms of autism? anyone tried it?

[deaconblue]

We don't have a diagnosis for ds yet but the more I read the more I think we may find he has aspergers. I've read about miraculous effects giving these foods up have had on children with profound autism but wondered if it's worth giving it a go with a milder problem?

Have you read "Diet Intervention and Autism" by Marilyn Le Breton?
Also try putting gluten free in the search here on MN to find ld posts on the subject.

I tried it with my son who did have aspergers.( They've taken away the diagnosis now...)It did improve his behaviour at school.
Worth a try me thinks.

Try it for a month. What have you got to lose? Either it makes a difference - yay!; or it doesn't, and you stop it.

Ds2 has autism, was moderately severe, but now he's very hfa, and might well get an aspie dx if he was assessed now. He's been gf/cf for 6 years, and it makes a huge difference to him. I'm completely nt, and I find I'm clearer-brained when I'm gf/cf too; I guess it makes sense that there'd be a hereditary element, but I'd never even have tried the diet if we hadn't been doing it for him.

I know other kids it's had no effect on, though. And I think you need to be very strict with it to really see if it works.

Ask on the BadScience forum. You'll get an evidence-based response there
www.badscience.net/forum/

It can take up to 6 months to start seeing the full effects of a GF diet, it takes that long for the gut to repair itself.

I have a 3 year old who is still to be diagnosed. 6 months ago he was spinning himself round and round, shaking his head, hitting himself and doing headstands on the sofa pretty much constantly. I decided to try the GF diet and substituted cows milk for goats milk.
All the behaviours listed above stopped almost immediately. He has now been on it for 6 months and what a difference. Everyone comments that he is like a different child. Much calmer etc.
I am a firm believer in this diet. Please try it as you have nothing to lose! Oh, you need to be very strict with cross contamination etc. CAT me if you want more helpful hints, recipes etc

Same goes here if you want some recipies maybe we could have a section in food/recipies for GF recipies??

thanks that's such a positive story. we plan to wait til after Christmas and give it a go as a family. We've tried him wiht some gluten free foods and he seems happy to eat them (was stressed as he survives on pasta and cheese sandwiches!)

Gluten free pasta and gluten free bread could be an option for you.

This diet is really good even if quite hard to stick to - for the first two weeks or so withdrawel symptoms will occur. Tracking your childs behaviour for the time you do this diet (rating it out of 10) really works, as you might be able to notice gradual changes that you wouldn't notice otherwise.
But don't expect your child to be happy about going on this diet to start with - particularly if the rest of your family is still eating bread/milk/etc.

Am trying it with DD (ASD 3.8) I started off doing casein free for three months and have been doing gluten free since just before christmas. I certainly think her behaviour has changed eg concentration and motivation levels and now I come to think of it she did did do occasional grimacing and jumping up and down which I haven't seen her do for a while.
I have just started to introduce back a small pot of fromage frais each day so I will be monitoring her to see if her behaviour changes.
I have also been given her Eye- Q omega fish oils for a couple of months.

I did lots of research and decided to go for it. If you type Mike Tettenborn into a google search you will find an article he has written about GF/CF diets. This did influence me as DD was ill at birth and needed antibiotics plus I had tons of antibiotics during labour. DD is also language disordered and although her language in improving I can't say I have noticed a massive improvement to date.

Good luck with it all if you decide to do it and just to let you know there is a loaf called "Genius" which is the best gluten free loaf I can find. They sell it in Tesco, Sainsburys and Waitrose!

Also, forgot to mention DD was very whingy for a couple of weeks possibly due to the withdrawal.