Jeff Stimpson

Today’s post is by Jeff Stimpson, author of the books Alex: The Fathering of a Preemie and Alex the Boy: Episodes From a Family’s Life With Autism.

A panel has concluded that there’s still no proof that special diets help or don’t help kids with autism, or that food allergies or sensitivities or gut problems cause autism. The panel, chaired by a Harvard doctor, included 28 experts in 12 scientific disciplines; it evaluated scientific evidence regarding gastrointestinal disorders in all forms of autism.

One pivotal question remains: Did the panel examine pretzels?

For that’s what we’re trying this week to kick Alex of: Utz Dark, original golden thins, even minis. He’s been munching them for years, leaving almost as many on the floor as he got to his mouth – often with a splattery crash of an upsetting bowl, a crash I’ll hear for the rest of my life – and, as with Elmo, the time has come for the heave-ho from Alex’s life.

Yes, we’ve heard all the talk about wheat and salt and all the other stuff that’s supposed to hinder those with autism, but we stuck with pretzels all these years for the same reason we’ve stuck with Elmo and allowed Alex to wear deliberately mismatched socks and only khakis: Because we’re working on other stuff with him, things like better sleep and losing baby teeth and, soon, eating at the table. When parenting a child with autism, you pick your battles.

So the news of this panel was heartening, at least to us. They noted that many parents and medical professionals have reported improvements in autistic behaviors after dietary treatments, but stipulated that these observations aren’t based on controlled, scientific studies.

One of the panel’s strongest statements was that “gastrointestinal woes” often worsen autism-related behaviors. Signs of gut disorders (I prefer to call them woes, but that’s next year’s battle) may include frequent clearing of the throat or swallowing; sobbing for no reason; sighing, whining, or groaning (what do you know: most of the people I’ve ever worked for have gut disorders!); grimacing or wincing, or gritting teeth (see previous note); constantly applying pressure to the abdomen by leaning against furniture or pressing with hands; self-injurious or aggressive behavior; and bad sleep, among others.

The panel recommends that if a child with autism is on any kind of restricted diet —due to dietary treatment, food sensitivities, or food aversions — the child should be evaluated by a nutritionist.

We’ll do that. Note to Elmo: How about a show on gastrointestinal woes?