The Mayo Clinic just released results of a study it conducted on special dietary restrictions for children with autism. Its findings will surprise some and irritate others: researchers concluded that while children with autism are more prone to constipation and picky eating,  they did not find a significantly higher incidence of gut problems in children with autism than in children who are typically developing.
We don’t have Alex on a wheat-free, dairy-free diet. Part of our reluctance to try the diet stemmed from how difficult a path we’ve had since before he was born. Following a year in the hospital and …read more

Gluten-free doesn’t have to mean flavor-free: the ultimate guide to wheat-less eating trumpets a recent post on Epicurious. Who don’t you know (sister-in-law, aunt, close friend from college) who hasn’t noted to you, “I’ve been going gluten-free and I feel so much better….”.
As long as my son’s been diagnosed, the gluten-free casein-free diet has been touted as a potential “treatment” for autism. Once we were fanatics; now he has the occasional bun with his hot dog and I pack his lunchbox with sushi and spring rolls and other gluten-free casein-free eats. And I keep finding more and more gluten-free items …read more

We started our son Charlie on the gluten-free casein-free diet over nine years ago, when he was two years old. After several years of faithfully adhering to it, with the rationalization that “since Charlie can’t say how he feels when eats wheat and dairy, we’d best just keep him off them,” wheat (not dairy—-milk products remain to be avoided) is slowly reappearing in Charlie’s diet and it’s been no big deal. Especially after Jenny McCarthy made claims of seemingly miraculous improvements for her son Evan on the diet, people have been wondering, and debating, its effectiveness. The University of Texas …read more