Autism-World

Q: This is a terrible problem with my son who has autism and I cannot get him to eat anything but pancakes(only buttermilk) french toast, oreo cookies(only the small ones) , fruit and grain bars and steak. He sometimes likes bbq pork chops, and chicken patties, but not very often. In worry that he was not getting enough nutition, I wanted to give him vitamins, but he will not take pills, and the liquid drops can be easily detected by him in a drink. He was only drinking pepsi, but I stopped buying them and now he only drinks Capri Sun, strawberry kiwi , and I can never get him to drink water. The pediatrician checked his vitamin levels for me, and said that he is fine, in fact, his b-12 levels are great as for everything else. He never eats veggies or fruits of any kind, no puddings , yogurts or dairy products, except for sometimes if I make homemade pizza, he will eat that, but that is his only time of eating cheese, and as I said , that is sometimes. This child lives on steak . Any ideas on getting him to eat other foods?

I have the “one bite system ” , but he goes into a frenzy if we do this. We found that he likes venison alot, probably because it is so close to beef. Oh, Mcdonalds hamburgers, plain, nothing on them are a favorite of his, but not my hamburgers. This all started when he was 22 months, I tried the gluten and casein free diet, and he was on it for 2 years, now he will not eat hardly anything, and I saw no change in his behavior from the diet. Now what?

Answer:

Fasting is not identified as a good idea by most MDs because it does not have any replicable, externally validated clinical research for children with developmental behavioral disabilities. Other MDs and medical professionals actually consider it ill advised both, overall and for children in particular. I agree that missing a meal or two should not be presumptively viewed as a crisis but neither should it be encouraged or equated to fasting. And fasting should not be considered a ‘treatment’ for children with autism.

While some children with autism do, in fact, have specific GI problems which definitely require specialized attention, presuming this as a basis for for any child identified as having autism is both, quite a stretch and potentially counterproductive. For instance, when diet is already highly selective and difficult to maintain, management must be individualized rather than by an alternative pre-determined protocol. And every child with autism should certainly not be treated as if they need GI ‘healing’ or have a digestive disorder. Autism is far too heterogenious to be so broadly categorized.

The behavioral ramifications on eating and related issues to include still more stress on the family can far outweigh any potential benefit from such rigid dietary management. And since the notion over what are ingested ‘toxins’ can also be widely interpreted by well trained and deeply invested professionals, these, too, can be rather variable across children and digestive systems. So, while diet can certainly support some autistic children and their families, it is only one suggestion and should be linked to individualized child assessment and family realities.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 20th, 2007 at 12:26 pm and is filed under Ask and answer.