Autism-World

Q: I got a result from ‘Autism research unit’ from sunderland that my son who has autism, is intolerant to gluten. So i am going to start gluten free diet.

Please tell me how long should we continue? is it a life long diet or can we slowly reintroduce gluten and wheat products later in his life?

Answer:

I would suggest transferring to any specialised diet by using a ‘change one’ method which basically means you change one item at a time and this way you can monitor yourself if the diet has to completely gluton free or you reach a manageable level by replacing only some items, be it the main items only or the treats.

For example our son has a reduced gluton free diet by substituting some of his school lunch box with gluton free products (try Tescos ‘Free From range which is readily available and reasonably priced) i.e. he has the ‘free from’ chocolate bar so doesn’t feel any different to the other kids but is not actually eating a chocolate bar. I found the main culprit for stomach problems though in another area and perhaps you may find benefit from researching this too. Existing enzymes after a meal which are not absorbed normally by Secretin which is naturally produced in our bodies, although in autistic children (any level of autism) it can be produced at a reduced rate or not at all. Without getting too technical and medical (i’m just a mum who has researched this!) with abnormal level of secretin in the gut Secretin does not travel to the three areas it is needed in the brain, the amygadala, hypocampus and cerebellum (excuse spelling, am only a mum!)

We give our son a homeopathic remedy of human synthetic Secretin and since taking the Secretin our son has increased concentration, eye contact, balanced moods etc etc the list of positives is endless. We didn’t tell anyone he had started this and was called into the school to talk about the difference in our son! Recommended this to friend whose son has Aspergers Syndrome and she has experienced the same (school called her in too) I hope this is of help to you and your son is very lucky to have parents willing to go the extra mile for him.

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This entry was posted on Monday, September 3rd, 2007 at 8:54 pm and is filed under Ask and answer.