Should GFCF diet be mandatory?

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None of the poll choices answer the question asked in the topic title.

No, the gluten-free casein-free diet shouldn't be mandatory.

I'm not aware that anyone is saying the effects are true for everyone on the spectrum, just perhaps for certain individuals with certain sensitivities. Even Jenny McCarthy says the diet doesn't work more than a third of the time. I think your "logical conclusion" takes a few huge leaps that aren't really appropriate.

The problem is, we can at least develop a hypothesis that for some people diet has an affect on how well they function with their ASD. There is more than enough observational evidence for that. While I realize observational evidence is not a conclusion, you can't just throw it out completely, either. We have many members here who have tested on themselves and felt that diet change lessened some of their symptoms. On the parenting board we are very careful to tell people that diet changes are not a cure-all, that only a limited percentage benefit, and that often the needed diet change won't be GFCF (many other diet issues are possible), but with all the observational evidence currently available, completely discarding the idea that one can improve with a change in diet (not necessarily GFCF) feels like intentionally burying ones head in the sand. The scientific testing is starting, and eventually there should be more solid information to go on. I know the original DAN! theories ARE BS, but the conversation has moved pretty far past that, if you've been following it. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water; something real is likely to be going on for some people when it comes to diet.

I do have a private theory: that the Autism Spectrum may well be the cause of the wave of various allergies, not the other way around. My reasoning is this: Aren't allergies simply the body's failure to respond appropriately to external stimuli? Why wouldn't the immune system be affected in the same way that other sensory systems can be affected?

In which case, getting checked out for allergies is a good idea, but I'd start with a doctor and end with a diet after a diagnosis.

Okay, I think I can now consider my younger sister more of a case study than an anecdote...

It was something over ten years ago that my mother was diagnosed with celiac disease. She promptly went on a GFCF diet for her health - highly appropriate for her, under the circumstances. My sister, who is autistic and lives with her, perforce underwent the same diet (Mom barely makes enough to shop for one set of groceries - two sets is just ridiculous).

Ten years of GFCF has made absolutely no difference in my sister's condition. It has not gotten "better", it has not gotten "worse" - instead, we have proved to my satisfaction that neurology is completely unaffected by such changes in diet. Autism is not a matter of neurotransmitters, and dietary alterations won't change it.

Now, that being said, it is true that some severe cases of celiac disease can cause the subject to become sufficiently withdrawn that someone working from a DSM-II might regard that person as "autistic" - but that doesn't mean the person actually has autism as defined in modern neuropsychiatry, any more than an actor playing a role well has developed multiple personalities.

Well I feel way better on GFCF and can tell when I've been glutened because I have intestinal bleeding. The dairy makes me break out in hives.-I have AS
My son reacts by being horrendously hyperactive and the dairy he is allergic to-he has Autism
My daughter reacts by having continuous diarrhea with too much gluten but doesn't react to small amounts of it. She can eat dairy with no health problems-I think she's an Aspie.

Should it be mandatory um no. I think it is a matter of choice and it is a valid choice. Even within the same family we aren't all on a strict GFCF diet and quite frankly the only reason I do it is otherwise I feel awful. It does have some sort of neurological effect but I couldn't tell you what. It makes me spacey and tired all the time. I don't like feeling like that. When my kids are old enough I'll let them decide but until then they get to stay on their diets.

Gluten never bothered me one bit, however, I do have an intolerance to casein, but that was actually diagnosed by an actual doctor. Milk gives me a headache so I have to take medication. I can only have small amounts of it.

1. This has not been shown to be the case for all of us.
2. We can't outlaw everything that could make someone high. That's just stupid.
3. Even if this made perfect sense, to keep Aspies who do have the sensitivity from their "fix," why punish the 99% of the population that's NT? (More like the 95% that's NT and not sensitive in that way.) The only way I can think of to enforce this in any reasonable manner would require a hugely expensive program to screen EVERYONE for autism. EVERYONE. Everyone in the US.
4. I don't believe drugs should be illegal anyway.

None of your poll options fits.

You have celiac disease running through the family. You and your son are also lactose intolerant. These are not, in fact, related to autism, and as you have no doubt noticed, altering your diet to take your allergies into account has not changed how autistic you are.

The only effect excessive gluten has on me is weight gain - that many carbohydrates can pack the pounds on. My wife is quite lactose-intolerant, but that has more to do with her African ancestry than anything else - she's quite NT, thanks. Our daughter only likes milk with chocolate in it, but her behavior is completely independent of her lactose intake. Our son gets his ADHD from his father, my cohusband - if I slip some coffee into his chocolate milk, it calms him down considerably.

I've posted an article on the parenting forum about the issues with reaching scientific conclusions based on observation. It works both ways: for those who feel diet changes might help, and those who feel it won't. We have a hypothesis out there and no conclusion.

NO ONE on this forum thinks Autism is CAUSED by diet problems. But some have to realize that diet issues can make some of the symptoms more severe. Hypothesis, not conclusion, but worth looking at when things are difficult.

So I've been high almost ever day of my life?

kewl

I love being high.