I remember watching an old episode of Ellen, when Jenny McCarthy was a guest on the show. She spoke about her new book “Louder than Words” that was the record of how she helped her son ‘recover’ from autism. Here: http://www.pr.com/article/1076 is a link to a little about her and about her book. She speaks about how putting her son on a strict diet vastly improved his symptoms. There have been many cases where eliminating Gluten and in fact all forms of yeast has improved symptoms in children with autism. On the other hand studies completed last year did not have an accurate control, group so the results were invalid. Also if a child with autism’s favourite foods needs to be eliminated from their diet, a mother could be looking at endless tantrums and never ending screaming. http://www.autismweb.com/diet.htm has another article with more information on the subject.
My question to you all is what have you heard about the effects of changing diet on children with autism? Do you think it is worth Mothers at least attempting the strict diets?
Over the summer, I volunteered in a class specifically for children with autism. There were two students who were sisters who were on a very strict diet. There mom told us that when they strayed from the diet, their symptoms became worse and they were more out of control. Children with or without autism will react to a food if their body is not used to. A child who does not eat sugar normally has a candy bar, they will become more hyperactive.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that a specific diet can heal a person of autism. I believe that all children need to have a well-balanced diet. A child who responds to a Gluten free diet could have Celiac disease which prevents their body from breaking down gluten. Although I do not know much about the causes of Autism, I do not believe that it is a process that can be cured from diet. What I know is that it can be caused from a neurological imbalance.
I know that people like Jenny McCarthy will testify that a diet healed their child but I also know people who changed the diet of their child with autism and saw no change.
This is the first time I have heard about a child's diet limiting or even curing the side effects of autism. After reading the article I am more interested, but still unsure about how much truth I think it has. I have worked with several children and adults with varying forms of autism and cannot see how just changing their diet would cure them or decrease their autism side effects. In the article one lady said that her son has no traces of autism since she has changed his diet. I find this hard to believe. I believe the severity of the autism also needs to be looked into, before stating that changing a diet will work. I also have a hard time believing they have found a cure for autism, which is essentially what this article is expressing. Autism is still confusing and most researchers and doctors still do not even know what causes it. If we do not know what causes it then how can we find a cure? I do however think that if changing a diet is showing some signs of helping than it is definitely worth the time, money,and effort for researchers to continue researching it.
ReplyDeleteThis is not the first time that I have heard and thought about a diet being beneficial for children with Autism. One of my best friends back home had a younger brother who had Autism. It was rather mild in comparison to many others that I have seen, but definitely noticeable still. He was put on a strict diet and it did have incredible results for him. He is now in high school and you would never know if you met him that he has Autism until you really get to know him and the few quirks that still regularly present themselves. I have heard of other success stories as well, but I also know that there is no guarantee that changing the diet of a child with autism will have any affects whatsoever. It sometimes works and sometimes does not. Obviously either way the Autism will still be a part of that person, whether the symptoms subside slightly or not. It is definitely an interesting and strange thing to look into because there are no solid studies on the subject either way.
ReplyDeleteI have actually heard a lot about the argument for diet regulation as a "cure" for autism. I know a young boy with autism and his most strictly regulated his diet. And I mean STRICTLY. This young boy is not allowed to eat and kind of sugar or any kind of fruit, except for on his birthday. He eats blended up cauliflower, broccoli, and asparagus on a daily basis. His mom swears by this method. Her son obviously isn't cured by the diet, for he still exhibits many characteristics of autism, but she insists that it tones the symptoms down.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that there is a possibility that diet regulation can help some people with autism, but to the extent of this mother and son, I don't know if it is worth it. It may mild the symptoms a bit, but he is still severely autistic. Besides that, his main diet consists strictly of blended up vegetables. He can't even eat fruit! He doesn't enjoy eating the veggies so it is work to get him to even eat. I am just not sure it is worth it unless the symptoms dramatically change.
Like Shauna, this was one of my first exposures to the idea of a diet significantly affecting autism's effects. It seems practical in some ways that a significantly healthier diet would impact a child's behavior and symptoms. I think it's sad though that eating well wouldn't be a high priority for all parents- whether their child had autism or not. I believe that trying a new diet is a good thing if there is a chance of it helping a child lead a more mainstream life. Hearing of this form of intervention working only some of the time though makes me wonder to what degree the diet change itself is what's helping. It's possible that the children who exhibit significant changes with a new diet had some GI problem and the diet is mainly helping with those symptoms. There is also a chance that the kids are showing reduced symptoms because the parents believe in the diet-- that parents are seeing what they want to see. I know that if there's something I really want, it becomes easy to see past the unwanted and focus in on only the positive results of an action.
ReplyDeleteSo, I think that diet changes are worth a try, but if it's more work to keep up a strict diet than it is to just eat healthier and continue on, it's better to do the latter.
I have not heard too much about Autistic children being on strict diets. I could see how it might be beneficial, but I do not think it can “cure” autism. Diet is a major factor for everyone. Children who eat a lot of junk food and pop will be less healthy and could have more behavior side effects, such as hyperactivity. This past summer, I worked with an autistic young adult, and I do not see how changing his diet would drastically change his side effects. I think a change in diet could perhaps dissipate the side effects, but definitely not cure the disease. Autism is a difficult thing to understand and we do not know how it is caused exactly. This idea also makes me wonder if parents are sometimes so desperate to see results in their child that they almost make themselves believe that this idea of diet really does work. After reading these articles, I am more interested about the results of changing a child’s diet, but I still do not believe it can cure them of the disease.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I have ever heard about how having a limited diet could cure autism. I am very skeptical about this idea. I find it hard to believe that there can be a "cure" for autism especially when they have not found a cause for autism. I have worked with many people who have autism, and cannot see how changing their diets would change anything. I know that a person diet can affect them in many ways, but I do not see how eating a specific way can cure autism. Many of the people with autism who I have worked with do eat very healthy and they watch what they eat, but it does not change anything, they still have autism. I think that the idea of diet curing autism is interesting and would like to learn more about it, but I do not find it plausible at this time.
ReplyDeleteI have heard about many different "therapies" for children with autism, including a diet-based therapy. I have worked with a few kids with autism, but I don't know if any of them were on a specific diet- the teachers I worked with were more concerned with trying different teaching techniques to reach their students' needs rather than focusing on what foods they ate. However, on a side note, one young boy with autism that I was working with last semester had a complete change of behavior half way through the semester and the teacher couldn't figure out what was different, so she did contact his parents to see if something had changed at home, including his diet, so it is something to be considered.
ReplyDeleteI liked the point brought up about the study that didn't have a control group, which is HUGE! Conclusions can't be made that one method is the reason for success if the study wasn't done to rule out other possibilities. I think that there is a lot to consider with this claim, and many times parents are so happy to see improvement that they'll credit anything, whether it was really that particular factor alone that brought about the change.
I also remember when she was on the Ellen show. This was before I knew a lot about Autism so I was under the assumption that this always worked. However, now that I am a little more educated in the matter, I think it is hard to tell if it is a universal thing. It is great that changing her son's diet worked for Jenny, but unfortunately, our lack of knowledge about Autism prevents there from being a cure or even treatment for Autism. Depending on the child, experimenting with diet could be a good idea and might work out for the best; however, it is not something, in my opinion, that will ever be considered universal for all cases of autism.
ReplyDeleteI have heard a little about the effects a diet change can have on Autism. In theory it makes sense. I am sure a healthy diet can improve any health condition or disability, but I am very skeptical about this diet being curative. I think it is okay for parents to try restricting their child's diet for a short time to see if it makes an improvement. I do have a hard time with parents eliminating or "choosing" which vaccines their children can have. There has been very little credible studies done that back up these claims. I think these parents are subjecting their children to even greater risks by eliminating the vaccines their child receives. It will be interesting to see what the general consensus between diet and Autism will be in the next five years.
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard much about the effects a diet has on a child with autism, but it seems that every year they come out with a new "cause" or "cure" of autism. Whether it's genetics, vaccines, diet, and many other things. Personally, I put as much weight into these assumptions as I do fad diets. However, eating healthy can only benefit a child and thus it is a valid option for mothers of children with autism to try. If they think it helps improve their academic and social performance then stick with it. However, I don't believe in depriving a child of a normal healthy diet. No dairy, gluten, sugar, etc. leaves a child with very bland and not very appetizing meals. There have been no valid studies concerning a child with autism and their diet and until so I will continue to be skeptical about this theory.
ReplyDeleteI don't know enough about Autism to really understand the whole situation, but this claim seems sketchy at best. The causes for Autism aren't well defined, so saying that any one thing can cure it doesn't seem very possible. There are many factors that can help children with Autism improve their behavior, but that doesn't mean changing a diet is a sure way. There are plenty of studies that say that cutting down or eliminating dairy products from any diet would make you more healthy. I for one feel a lot more positive when I eat better, so what's to stop a child with Autism from feeling better when he is more healthy? Yay for pseudo-scientific theories!
ReplyDeleteI have heard about this idea, but I have heard that it has made a difference and also heard some say that it does not. However, personally I believe giving a child a specific diet could be helpful. I used to babysit a family with three children who have autism. There mother put them on this same type of diet. We all began to see improvements in the children over the years. However, they were also receiving private schooling from a specialist which could have also been the reason for the improvement. But as I see it there was improvement so why change it unless you know for sure there is something better. I know that with anyone with a disability or not eating healthier with always have some type of positive affect on you. It would be interesting to know if it really does have a positive affect or not though.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of a diet curing Autism up until reading this article. I am not sure that I am convinced that changing a person's diet will decrease the effects of Autism. I do believe that diet and exercise can improve your mood and make you feel better, but Autism is a disorder in the brain that I don't think can be cured by changing one's diet. Although I do think it is worth continuing to research if people have seen an improvement after changing one's diet.
ReplyDeleteLike many of you, I had never heard of this attempt in curing Autism until reading this article. And personally I think that it's possible that it could have a positive affect on the child's autism; but curing it completely? I have my doubts. I think that it is important to note with these miraculous circumstances the varying severeness of the child's autism. My guess is that there are other circumstances that are playing a role in these experiments so to say, that we aren't taking into consideration. Throughout the article I was wondering why she wasn't talking about her son more. I mean she talked A LOT about vaccines and it almost gave me the impression that she had a hidden agenda with this interview which leads me to doubt even more the validity of this concept.
ReplyDeleteI also have not heard anything about changing a kids diet can cure autism. Reading through these articles I can see where they are coming from but I still don't think that changing the diet will cure autism. Changing a diet could have its positive aspects but I do not think that it will heals an autistic child. I don't know all that they did for all we know there could have been some other things that contributed to helping the ladies kid out. I also can't help but think it might also have to do with the different levels of severity they are dealing with. There is still a lot of things to consider before we can say that changing an autistic child's diet. I still think that it would not heal them.
ReplyDeleteTo directly answer your question, I have not heard too much about the effects changing a child's diet to help cure their autism. I've witnessed the effects of altering a child's diet throughout a day or week but have never seen anyone being 100% "cured" of autism through this way.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading through most of McCarthy's thoughts with the literature provided, I've come to view her a little more negatively than when you first mentioned who she was and what she had claimed to have accomplished. It seemed to me like she was more interested in her own life story of doing amazing things rather than the actual science behind eliminating yeast from her son's diet.
One downturn that I see from trying new diets is that if they don't work, it may lead to a gradual lack of confidence and focus from other things you can or should already be doing in helping your child find success in school, family, and social life. Diets are one thing, but don't bank your child's entire future on their outcome, whether it deems to be successful or not.
In Biology last semester this was a topic we discussed a lot. We also watched a video of Jenny McGarthy saying that this diet cured her son of autism. However, I don't necessarily believe that this diet necessarily cured autism but I think that maybe can help. Eating healthier and being conscience of what is going on your body is always helpful and can improve the overall lifestyle of anyone. Changing a diet may have a positive influence on those with Autism, but I don't think there is enough evidence to support that it can cure Autism. Autism is such a difficult topic and no one really understands it, so I think right now we shouldn't jump to any conclusions.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure about how I feel about a strict diet to help autism. I have heard of a few people trying it with not much success. I think that everyone's body functions best when they are taking in all the nutrients and vitamins that they need. Although this might help with some of the more severe symptoms in certain individuals, I do not believe that this strict diet can cure autism. I believe that there is a LOT more research that needs to be done about autism.
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