Pam Ferro’s son used to leave family Christmas parties screaming because, as a child with autism, he found the celebrations to be too overwhelming. He couldn’t make it through a school day alongside other kids, either, because he spent his time crying. Even leaving the house — which he couldn’t do without switching the lights on and off, opening and shutting the door, and checking and rechecking lined-up toys in his room — was a challenge.
But today, at age 25, Ferro’s son lives independently, attends community college and plays video games with friends on the weekends. He’s beginning an internship this summer and will surely attend a family Christmas party this winter. “He still very much has autism, but it doesn’t stop him,” says Ferro, a registered nurse and president of the Gottschall Autism Center in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts.
What does she credit for much of the change? The Specific Carbohydrate Diet, a restrictive eating plan that forbids carbohydrates with more than one molecule structure, including all grains, sugar, some dairy products and even certain vegetables. The diet, which was originally developed to treat gastrointestinal conditions like celiac disease and ulcerative colitis, has also shown promise in some children with autism, many of whom also have digestive conditions. Ferro started her son on a dairy-free form of the SCD at age 12 after reading the first book to popularize it, “Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet” by biochemist Elaine Gottschall. “I credit her for saving his life because he had so many dramatic improvements,” she says.
[See: How to Make Healthful Dietary Changes Last a Lifetime.]
As long as children have autism, people will peddle diets, spells, pills, exercises and other remedies to “cure” it. After all, they have an eager audience, says Wesley Delbridge, a registered dietitian in Chandler, Arizona, whose 4-year-old son has autism spectrum disorder. “When you have an autistic child, you’re willing to try anything,” he says. “I was willing to go out there and clap three times and recite a mantra — anything to help my child.”
But so far, there’s no strong evidence to support any one diet for the treatment of autism in most kids with the condition. For example, early research and plenty of parents’ experiences have supported a gluten-free, casein-free diet — or one that eliminates all foods containing gluten (including wheat, dairy and rye) and casein (namely, milk and dairy products) — as helpful for autism symptoms, but recent, stronger research found no difference between children with autism on the plan and those on a placebo.
“The hypothesis was that children with autism have trouble breaking down gluten protein and dairy proteins,” and so their physical discomfort manifests as poor behavior, attention problems, mood issues and other autism symptoms, explains Helen Yoo, a psychologist at the New York State Institute for Basic Science Research who works with autistic children and their families. By eliminating those irritants, the theory went, such symptoms improve. “[But] well-designed studies,” Yoo says, “show that’s not the case.”
That’s not to say that a particular diet won’t work for individual kids with autism, nor does it mean that food choices don’t matter in managing autism symptoms, experts say. “Dietary intervention can be life-changing by helping to alleviate symptoms and physical pain that can contribute to behaviors often associated with autism,” says Wendy Fournier, president of the National Autism Association.
That was the case for Ferro’s son. While he improved some on the gluten-free, casein-free diet, he saw the most gains on a dairy-free version of the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. The plan eased his digestive woes and, in turn, his symptoms, says Ferro, who co-wrote, “The SCD for Autism and ADHD: A Reference and Dairy-Free Cookbook for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet” and also runs a clinic dedicated to treating children with autism using a diary-free version of the SCD. “Whenever there’s something that looks like a behavioral problem, somebody has to look at the gastrointestinal system because that’s how pain expresses itself … in people who are developing atypically,” she says.
Delbridge, a spokesman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics who specializes in food allergies, meanwhile, has found that his son’s behavior is steadiest when he’s eating gluten-free and avoiding certain artificial food dyes. “Within a few hours [of accidentally consuming red dye 40], he gets super spastic, super hyper — almost to the point where he’s in his own world,” he says.
[See: How Often Should I Poop, and Other Toilet Topics.]
Here’s how experts suggest finding an eating plan that works best for your kid:
1. Set realistic expectations.
Of all the factors that influence autism symptoms, diet is a small piece of the puzzle, Delbridge says. “You can get the diet awesome and perfectly right, but if screen time isn’t controlled or they get picked on at school or they can’t wear what they want to,” it doesn’t matter so much, he says. Be cautious, then, of diets that claim wild improvements, even cures. As Ferro tells patients, “what we do here is just try to put the body back in the right balance,” she says. “That’s it.”
2. Work with professionals.
Changing any child’s diet isn’t easy or without risk — and that’s particularly the case for kids with autism, who tend to be extremely picky eaters and resistant to change. “Parents can feel overwhelmed that they don’t know what to cut out and when,” Delbridge has found, and so they either ignore diet altogether or try every diet out there and put their child at risk for nutritional deficiencies. But working with a physician, registered dietitian, behavioral therapist or all three can help relieve some of the burden and ensure the eating plan is safe.
Professionals can also help you set a goal for your child — be it more regular bowel movements or better sleep — and monitor whether diet is helping your child reach them, says Dr. Daniel Coury, medical director of Autism Speaks’ Autism Treatment Network and developmental-behavioral pediatrician at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. “I hate to see families continue these diets if they’re really not seeing a benefit,” he says.
[See: 6 Ways to Train Your Brain for Healthy Eating.]
3. Practice patience.
Because the optimal diet for every child with autism is different, it may take a long time to find what suits your kid best. Add to that the fact that while the average kid needs to be introduced to a new food a dozen times before trying it, it may take children with autism upwards of 50 times, Coury says. “What you have to focus on is being patient or being vigilant so when you find that best diet that works for your child … it helps them work better, behave better, it manages their emotions better, they learn better,” Delbridge says. You have to be patient with yourself, too. “If something messes up, don’t punish yourself,” he says. “Just … get right back on [your plan] and start the marathon again.”
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Can Diet Treat Autism? originally appeared on usnews.com
