Consider further before judging antics of difficult child

You may hear of children with ASD who are on what is called a Gluten-Free, Casein (milk protein) Free (GFCF) diet to help with some issues that these children have.

The GFCF diet is based on the theory that children with autism may have an allergy or high sensitivity to certain foods.

In particular, the theory targets foods that contain gluten and casein.

Children with autism, according to the theory, process peptides and proteins in foods containing gluten and casein differently than other people do.

Hypothetically, this difference in processing may exacerbate autistic symptoms.

Some believe that the brain treats these proteins like false opiate-type chemicals.

The reaction to these chemicals, they say, leads a child to act in a certain way.

Based on this theory, diets free of gluten and casein are given to children with autism.

The intent is to reduce symptoms and improve social and cognitive behaviors and speech.

A GFCF diet is extremely restrictive and may be costly. The effectiveness of a GFCF diet for autism has not been scientifically substantiated in randomized clinical trials.

In fact, a review of recent and past studies concluded there is a lack of scientific evidence to say whether this diet can be helpful or not.

Some people feel that it helps their children, some do not.

One thing that is extremely important to remember is that all children are different and it is important not to make assumptions about one child based on what has worked for another._

Every child with ASD is different, and the eating difficulties and peculiarities will not improve using the same techniques for all._

Also, it is important to note that the parents fault their child is a faddy/picky/peculiar eater._

When you hear of a child who sounds like a “picky” eater (and I’m not saying they don’t exist), don’t trivialize it and assume that the parent’s are just spoiling the child.

Because of the opposite ends of the spectrum signs and symptoms of autism you may not be able to tell that anything is wrong with the child.

I often say that these kids/adults have “faulty wiring” and we don’t experience things the same way that they do.

On a personal note, the reason that I decided to write about Autism is that a couple of weeks ago I met with a mom who has an 8-year-old son with Autism.

Since the boy does not like strangers in his home we met at McDonalds. This was a change in his routine so he was antsy to begin with. In order to occupy him, Mom ordered nuggets, fries and a drink so that he could eat while we spoke.

The RD in me shuddered, but the realist in me knew that we wouldn’t even be able to talk for five minutes if he wasn’t occupied.

True to form, when he was done eating, we only had about another five minutes that we could talk before he wanted to leave.

After they left and I was writing up my notes I looked at the scene from the outside in.

This little boy is quite chubby so for anyone looking at what the mother bought him, people may be judgmental that she would buy him all of that “bad” food.

Also, when he was done and wanted to go-he wanted to go, and made it quite clear.

People may look at that and think what a “brat” the child was being.

I totally admit that I make those kinds of judgments as well, face it, we all do.

I guess what I’m asking is that next time you see someone who you deem as a “bratty” child or “bad” parent, consider that you have no idea what is going on with that family.

It is true that you never know what others are going through.

At the end of our visit, Mom asked the boy to give me a high-five. I didn’t think he’d do it because often, physical contact may be too stimulating for children with autism.

I was right, he didn’t give me a high-five, instead he brought me to tears by giving me a big hug.