The world of Gluten Free, Casin Free, and for Alex he is also Soy Free. Many parents start down the road of GFCF who have children with autism. The reasons are different for each child.
Often the journey into the GFCF (Gluten Free Casisn Free) world starts simple. But for children who truely need the diet it soon becomes complicated. The parents the choose this diet and stick with it do so because they see biological evidence that it is helping the child in some way. Alex had been on the diet for a year before we discovered the medical name for why he needed to be on the diet. Some families never get to know the medical name for why thier child need the diet.
No one knows exactly why children with autism have more gut related and allergy related issues. But for Alex it is a true medical concern. The autism and the allergies maybe seperate issues that just happened to show-up in the same child. Either way the two condintions exasperbate each other.
Not eating or desiring food because of non-pleasure related to allergies from food that caused pain and vomitting which led to self limiting of food types which again led to not developing mouth movements that support speaking.
Pain and discomfort make it hard to focus and learn, etc....
Alex has displayed all of the classic sympotoms:
- bloated belly
- vomitting
- glaced over eyes
- unexplained giggles
- constipations
- diarehea
- leaky gut
- etc..
Alex is doing much better on the diet. He is not cured but is doing better. We continue the diet because without it Alex's real allergy related symptoms return. Hopefully someday he will grow out of his allergies. But if he dows not. Living without bread or cheese or milk will not kill him.
Instead a new world with many more food options has opened up to him.
