3 ms·

I did not downvote (don't even have the ability). Our daughter had severe GERD at a young age, she would be screaming through the night in pain. Apparently GE

by hoopism 12y ago

I did not downvote (don't even have the ability). Our daughter had severe GERD at a young age, she would be screaming through the night in pain. Apparently GERD and gastro issues are somewhat typical of kids with ASD. That being said I did a lot of reading on effective treatments. There's absolutely no shortage of parents seeing results with dietary changes and it's a fascinating area. Unfortunately I have not found any studies that conclusively make any link that we feel comfortable implementing. Gluten intolerance and dairy intolerance run in my family. For the last 4 months we have cut out gluten. The reason is that it seems to anecdotally have a high link to symptoms and it's super easy to eliminate (comparatively). Our Pediatrician (who is well versed on this sort of thing) expressed concerns that often the strict diets bring a fair amount of stress to both the parents and child. ASD kids often have feeding issues already... I know several who only eat 1 or 2 types of foods. She did not feel comfortable based on the research recommending any drastic change. On a side note... there are a TON of well meaning and desperate parents out there. There are also TONs of unscrupulous companies who will make all sorts of claims. One of my biggest concerns is with all the poorly researched vitamin and medical interventions. I am not stupid enough to dismiss the entire field as without merit... but I have seen some pretty awful claims and therapies that have huge risk and almost no factual evidence. It's a scary landscape out there if you are uneducated and desperate. You don't have to do a ton of searching to find some really scary interventions out there being done on very young children.

fecak 12y ago
Regarding diet and stress - we started with diet about seven years ago. She was a very picky eater and we kept the snacks she liked in one cabinet, and when she wanted something she would come take your hand and drag you to the cabinet. If you asked her what she wanted, she'd take your hand and place it on the item (no pointing, no grabbing it on her own). The day we implemented the diet, I took her to the cabinet and opened it up. It was empty but for a few things she still could have, and we eventually filled it with things she was allowed. Flash forward to today, and her favorite foods are almost entirely vegetables and meats. She is very restricted - no dairy, gluten, soy, corn, sugar, any grains, and little processed food overall. She has been sick (cold) once in the past three years and attends elementary school. The stress of a child not sleeping for years far outweighs the stress of meal planning and preparation, at least in my family (wife is at home). I'm not a doctor (if that wasn't obvious already), but diet worked for us and she quickly realized that she would have to eat from choices we provided. There was no more than maybe a day of any negativity about it from her. Her diet now is incredibly healthy, and my wife is creative to make things that are safe alternatives to stuff that other kids are eating. Some diets take more prep time than others, but I don't know that I've ever heard of stress to family or child as a stated objection to try it.
- hoopism 12y ago
  Hopefully you didn't take my response as a condemning of diet alteration... it's something we consider everyday. What has been you experience since the alteration? My daughter has trouble with feeding, but at this age it's less about what it is than it is about the process itself. She eats veggies and meats mostly anyway... so eliminating most things would be fairly straightforward for us. My concerns are minimal... I just don't want to restrict without good cause.
  - fecak 12y ago
    No, didn't view it as condemnation at all. My response was due to a couple things. One, some people feel the restrictive diet punishes in that you may have to take away a favorite food. We did have to do that, but my wife had the time and patience to learn how to make alternatives that she ended up liking quite a bit. Some people fear the diets because they are afraid of lacking nutrition. You do need to be aware of which diets may end up naturally being deficient in certain things, and you need to make an effort to include those things (like calcium or perhaps D in CF). The biggest concern of mine when talking about diet is effort. Many people don't do it because 'it's too hard', and they don't want to spend that amount of time in the kitchen. Some allow a level of cheating ('one piece of pizza won't kill him/her'), which defeats the purpose of the diet entirely. So the 'stress to the child/family' objection your doctor offered is the weakest of the usual objections, and if you really wanted to try diet your doctor likely wouldn't object. In our case, daughter had diarrhea and loose stools for almost an entire year, every day. We started on SCD (Specific Carbohydrate Diet), which was originally designed for Crohn's or colitis patients I believe, and within a short time (weeks maybe?) she started being entirely regular. We all (wife, daughter, me) did the early part of the diet together, so when we sat down she was eating what we were eating. First few days was basically broths, then it gradually introduces easy to digest foods (well cooked meats and certain vegetables). Her stomach has been fine ever since. We're not still on SCD, but we still eliminate several things as I mentioned before. If you want more details on anything about my experience, my email is in my profile.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]

by hoopism 12y ago

fecak 12y ago

Regarding diet and stress - we started with diet about seven years ago. She was a very picky eater and we kept the snacks she liked in one cabinet, and when she wanted something she would come take your hand and drag you to the cabinet. If you asked her what she wanted, she'd take your hand and place it on the item (no pointing, no grabbing it on her own). The day we implemented the diet, I took her to the cabinet and opened it up. It was empty but for a few things she still could have, and we eventually filled it with things she was allowed. Flash forward to today, and her favorite foods are almost entirely vegetables and meats. She is very restricted - no dairy, gluten, soy, corn, sugar, any grains, and little processed food overall. She has been sick (cold) once in the past three years and attends elementary school. The stress of a child not sleeping for years far outweighs the stress of meal planning and preparation, at least in my family (wife is at home). I'm not a doctor (if that wasn't obvious already), but diet worked for us and she quickly realized that she would have to eat from choices we provided. There was no more than maybe a day of any negativity about it from her. Her diet now is incredibly healthy, and my wife is creative to make things that are safe alternatives to stuff that other kids are eating. Some diets take more prep time than others, but I don't know that I've ever heard of stress to family or child as a stated objection to try it.

hoopism 12y ago
Hopefully you didn't take my response as a condemning of diet alteration... it's something we consider everyday. What has been you experience since the alteration? My daughter has trouble with feeding, but at this age it's less about what it is than it is about the process itself. She eats veggies and meats mostly anyway... so eliminating most things would be fairly straightforward for us. My concerns are minimal... I just don't want to restrict without good cause.
- fecak 12y ago
  No, didn't view it as condemnation at all. My response was due to a couple things. One, some people feel the restrictive diet punishes in that you may have to take away a favorite food. We did have to do that, but my wife had the time and patience to learn how to make alternatives that she ended up liking quite a bit. Some people fear the diets because they are afraid of lacking nutrition. You do need to be aware of which diets may end up naturally being deficient in certain things, and you need to make an effort to include those things (like calcium or perhaps D in CF). The biggest concern of mine when talking about diet is effort. Many people don't do it because 'it's too hard', and they don't want to spend that amount of time in the kitchen. Some allow a level of cheating ('one piece of pizza won't kill him/her'), which defeats the purpose of the diet entirely. So the 'stress to the child/family' objection your doctor offered is the weakest of the usual objections, and if you really wanted to try diet your doctor likely wouldn't object. In our case, daughter had diarrhea and loose stools for almost an entire year, every day. We started on SCD (Specific Carbohydrate Diet), which was originally designed for Crohn's or colitis patients I believe, and within a short time (weeks maybe?) she started being entirely regular. We all (wife, daughter, me) did the early part of the diet together, so when we sat down she was eating what we were eating. First few days was basically broths, then it gradually introduces easy to digest foods (well cooked meats and certain vegetables). Her stomach has been fine ever since. We're not still on SCD, but we still eliminate several things as I mentioned before. If you want more details on anything about my experience, my email is in my profile.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]