Some facts about autism and why the gf casein free diet works

Ok I've done the first testimonial page, so now I decided its time for the facts page. Firstly I would like to clarify to my readers that I'm not a medical practitioner, I am a school teacher and have taught children on the autism spectrum both diagnosed and undiagnosed and I'm also doing alot of research as there are a few people close to me with children on the spectrum! If after reading everything I have to say and you have concerns about your child or someones close to you child's, speak up in a polite way,you will either immediately get the the response that they had the same concerns as you,but not many parents want to admit that, so be mindful! And don't take it to heart, they will come round, even if they do get a bit defiance to start with. It's a hard choice to make!

Now I know all the readers with children who have autism are well aware of what it is, symptoms etc, unfortunately it's something the general public have very little knowledge about and sadly as a teacher, I definitely believe that to be true! So I am on an endeavor to empower as many people with knowledge about the signs and symptoms of autism.

Warning Signs and symptoms of autism

1. If a child isn't babbling or cooing by 12months of age.
2. If a child doesn't gesture by 12 months ie; point,wave etc
3. If child doesn't say single words by 16 months
4. If a child cannot repeat a two word phrase by 24 months.
5. If a child has any loss of language or social skill at any age

The next possible symptoms are things that I notice most as a teacher, I am also getting this information predominately from Autism web, I'll provide a direct link later but if you want to look up more symptoms check out their very informative website! So here is my shortened list of symptoms;
a) the child doesn't respond to their name
b) the child has problems with expressive and receptive language what they say and how to
explain what they are wanting to say to others.
c) The child demonstrates intense and violent tantrums, which can be misunderstood as just a
naughty child who needs discipline (parents, turn your ears off to that talk)
d)The child can be hyperactive, oppositional and uncooperative
e) The child has poor eye contact and often won't respond to smiles.
f) the child often becomes fixated in one object or thing and generally prefers to play alone.
g) the child often appears to be in their own world and they often aren't interested in other
children
h) the child often lines objects up and walks around on their toes.
I) the child does not like to be touched even hugged by their parents at times (this is a hard
one but important to be aware of, a slight touch could result in a massive tantrum).
j)1 in 160 Australians are on the autism spectrum,with the larger number being boys
k) repetitive use of an object or repetitive use of a bodily action such as flapping or
clapping
L) an inability to cope with a slight variation of routine ie; going a different way to school
due to road works etc, could result in a massive meltdown from the child.

Unfortunately with autism, early intervention and diagnose is best for the child, but often
hardest on the parent. I'm not yet a parent but one day soon, I hope to be and I can only
empathise with people how hard it must be to admit that your gorgeous baby isn't reaching the
same milestones as other children (particularly with social media and most parents brag/share about
their child's achievements, which must be hard knowing that those achievements may never be
possible for your child!)

I know I have explained briefly some of the signs of autism. I must stress that early
diagnose, is essential! A child can be diagnosed via a series of tests from 18 months to 3
years. Although it might be hard to do, a child who goes to school without a diagnose, will
still show signs, but they cannot get any additional funding or assistance, despite it being very obvious! Thus making learning almost impossible and a high change of numerous calls from the teacher regarding your child's behaviour. The child may also be in constant trouble, as they have meltdowns (at any change of routine, they wont understand social cues and directions from the teacher, they may find friends hard to get or keep, also some teachers if the child doesn't have a customer can respond in a manner which will make a bad situation worse. Your child may decline intellectually as they don't understand what their teacher is saying! The teachers will eventually pick up on it, but your child may be in their 2nd or 3rd year or more of school before they are diagnosed or simply slip through the system. All the research suggests early intervention is the key,along with  finding a theory of practice that works best for you and your child to best equip them for school.

Now the final part of this post is about why a gf casein free diet would and does work for
children on the autism spectrum and also ADHD. Now for some basic medical facts (I did do 6 months of nursing at university so I understand a small amount of medical lingo), basically gluten is broken down in the intensines into to several by products. These by products are much more prominent in the urine of children with autism than those without! Some scientist believe that there is a leakage from the intestine's of children with autism, thus causing lots of gastrointestinal problems in autistic children. The scientific belief is that this leakage causes behavior problems in autistic children. As mentioned in the previous post regarding autism, my friend from Stranger Than Fiction, notice behavioural changes when she had Master 2 on the gf casein free diet.

Casein is a protein found in milk based products, which has been found to affect behavior of autistic children. Studies have proven that a combination of the gf and casein free diet shows improvements on behavior, with some patents reporting a dramatic decrease in autistic traits and behavior! I have only recently heard of casein but was informed when diagnosed with coeliac, that some people may need to remove dairy products for the first few months, thankfully I didn't.

Now I believe that firstly if you notice several of the autistic traits I've mentioned, take the plunge and take yourself to the pediatrician and if you aren't happy with the answers you get,seek another opinion, follow your gut instinct and don't take no for an answer. Do everything to get your child tested, remember without a diagnose,no assistance can be given to your child at school, or preschool! And their life at school will be very difficulty, academically and socially, trust me, this is a teacher speaking and I taught many students who I believed were on the autism spectrum but hadn't been tested and they were so far behind in so many ways.

I hope this post has helped in some way to give you a better understanding and why the gf and casein free diet is easy and very worthwhile trying! But please, if your have any concerns regarding your child, please seek medical advice.

Here is the list of fantastic websites which helped me write and research this post:
http://www.autismspectrum.org.au/
www.autismweb.com
www.vrg.org/nutshellcheese.htm (this website provides what looks like a quick and easy alternative to making a non dairy free cheese)
http://www.healingthresholds.com/


Keep an eye on my blog for quick and easy gf recipes for busy parents, so this diet doesn't cost you a fortune! I am hoping to have a separate link with autism post, having a few problems setting it up but will be up soon.

Also the next post will be a non autism post just a traditional post, I don't won't to overhwhelm people and also don't forget the Gluten Free Expo in Sydney next Fri afternoon and Saturday, I will be there Saturday.

Hope this information has helped.

First Testimonal of the GF and Casein Free diet

Finally I got to catch up with my old friend, the amazing author of the blog stranger than fiction. It was a surprise visit and she brought me some ultra yummy gf biscuits, one packet tastes like Tim Tams, needless to say the entire packet is gone! I did have a bit of assistance though!

Apart from how lovely it was to catch up we got to talk about one of her children, master J, who has autism and she has tried the gf and Casein diet. Finally I had the chance to ask lots of questions!

Point one: I think it's essential to say she noticed more eye contact and an overall behavioral improvement on the gf and casein free diet! Which is amazing and meant so much to gain that little bit more communication and understanding of their son (can't forget the hubby)! Which for any parent or teacher the slightest notion that something to do as simple as gf and casein diet may help in so many ways is definitely worth a go!

Point two: they noticed massive changes in his bowel movements ie; from constipation to diarrhoea with any intake intentional or not of any form of gluten. It is important to not that although this is common, Master J is currently getting blood tests and maybe even having to get an endoscope test, the camera down the throat, the only conclusive way to diagnose coeliac.
But it is important to note that Mrs Stranger Than Fiction, stated that other parents of children with autism on the diet experienced similar problems.

Point 3: Both husband and wife noticed Master J, was more engaged with a variety of activities. Which once again is a massive positive and a great feeling for the entire family!

Point 4: Both husband and wife noticed that Master J was responding more frequently to his name. Once again a big improvement!! It nay not seem much for some people but this is a big achievement and huge positive for trying and sticking with the diet!

Point 5: Gluten free food is rather costly. Mrs Stranger Than Fiction,  told me they were spending $100 each week on food for master J alone, not including the other 4 family members!

Now this is the part which I am endeavoring to help out families and indeed anyone on the gf casein diet, see apart from the bread and I have a semi solution for, that's the only real extra we spend on groceries, oh the occasionally gf pizza base, some of the gf flours are more expensive and the cereal but again
I have a solution for. I'll start with the bread and cereal money saving tips; at Coles you can buy Basco brand packet mix bread, if you keep your eye out, when they come close to the use by date, the price drops massively, I got the last packet for around $1.50!, it expired in a few days but I baked it (it's easier just follow instructions and mix for a fair amount of time in an electric mixer) then put in loaf tin and bake. Hot or warm this bread tastes like gluten bread! It doesn't keep for long, but cut into individual pieces wrap in plastic wrap and then put entire cut and wrapped loaf into the freezer, it lasts best this way! You can also make your own bread using a bread maker, I've done it and it's great but I will keep you updated when I make my own with all the different types of flour required. Now next money saving tip, breakfast cereal I eat rice cereal with fruits and the same applies as for packet mix bread. My theory is something like rice porridge will be ok to eat a bit after the use by date, and yet another bargain. I also eat the coco bomb, cereal Aussie made (I even got permission from my nutritionist to eat it, the rest of my diet was healthy and I am a big kid) and its about the same price as other gluten cereals. Also if you join the Coeliac Society of Australia http://www.coeliac.org.au/#, I'm sure in other countries they may have similar facilities, you do need to complete a form and have a section completed by your doctor and there is also an annual membership fee, but there are regular discounts at Coles on GF products, yet another savings!

I am over the next few months (it may take longer due to my poor health), starting to develop quick and easy gf and Casein recipes that the whole family can eat, that take a maximum of 20 minutes to cook from beginning to end, without eating frozen meals or preparing two or three different meals. The time factor and expensive wasn't something that came into my mind, as a non parent, and a lover of cooking, I hadn't realised that, but having many friends and family with small children, I do know the crazy hour from about 4.30pm to bedtime, and with a child with autism or behaviour issues and trying to cook several meals or complicated meals its just goes in the too hard basket. And I don't cook two meals, the only time Poppa Smurf (husband) eats something slightly different is I might have gf pasta and he will have normal pasta and that's it! And I use gf flour in all cooking, he eats what I cook, though since I've been so unwell with spasms he has been doing most of the cooking and its rather good!

So as I develop these recipes I will post them up and I will create an additional page that is dedicated to Autism, ADHD and behaviour issues and as I know casein (basically non diary) is something that most children are on, I will try my best to make these recipes friendly to those on both the gf and casein diet.
I would also like to add that my entire Bridal Shower the food was gf, apart from one plate, my family likes cooking and everyone loved all the food, so parties don't need to have gf and gluten food, if you or your child are on the diet, make everything gf, most people love it and if you like, don't tell them. The hard thing is when you or your child go to a party, and there is nothing you can eat, for adults, bring something for yourself (and fill up before you go), for kids, my recommendation would be to call up before explain your child's dietary requirements, the normal food they can eat (ie, plain chips, lollies etc) and explain why you will be bringing food, just for them (so not to offend the organising parent), and your child gets to eat cake that why when the other kids do.

I am also going to attempt more research and will be sharing that with you and creating pages that explain autism, ADHD and in layman's terms some of the medical research that has been done into the impact of these diets on autism and ADHD.

I would also love to include some testimonials of parents who have tried the diet and have either success or failure, just someone to share their story would be great. And as a teacher I can tell the difference when small changes are made to a child's diet, so I can imagine the major changes from the gf casein free diet.

Also I have added a link that you can follow me by email, basically if you like my post and read it regularly sign up and it will get delivered straight to your email address. Don't forget you can also follow me on Facebook and I will also be setting up a link to like me on Facebook soon,  and a how to follow me page for beginners to the blogging world.

I hope you have found this helpful and please pass on to anyone with autism or ADHD. Also a massive thank you to the wonderful writer and old and dear friend  of Mrs Stranger than Fiction, without her input, this post would not be possible!

I would also like to include this website, which I used a number of times to research this post, there is an ambudance of information on here, and its in simple, easy to read terms, which is always helpful!!
http://www.autismweb.com/diet.htm

I really hope this helps and when I write the next post I will have the separate autism page up like the recipe pages. Please remember to follow me if you have been reading and like me on Facebook!

Also don't forget the GF Expo is Sydney is Friday (but only in the evening) and 26th August and Saturday the 27th. I will be there and my cards will be at two different stores, I will devote a post closer to the date with more details.

Please let me know what you think of this post and if it has helped you in anyway or inspired you!

Guest post on Stranger than Fiction

I have written a post for a friend, as it's not about my coeliac life, I didn't want to post it directly on my blog. But I do want my readers to have access to it. It's featured on an old friend from High School's Blog, Stranger Than Fiction, who is an amazing person. 

Without further ado, here is the link. And in a pay in forward based on the contact of an email, call or go and see a friend or family member who is doing it tough and let them know you are there for them, to listen, to talk, whatever they need.

http://mylifestrangerthanfiction.blogspot.com/2011/08/everyone-has-story-to-tell-everyone.html