From YumaSun.com
October 26, 2008 – 6:27PM
BY STEPHANIE SANCHEZ, SUN STAFF WRITER

Gwen Conner gently held her son’s face between her hands in hopes that he would make eye contact with her.

His eyes avoided looking at her until she could almost could no longer see his pupils, she said.

She remembers he would rarely cry or make any baby sounds. Whenever she would come by him, he didn’t acknowledge her. Conner noticed that there was a problem with bonding. Conner’s son was diagnosed with autism when he was 2-1/2 years old.

Children with autistic disorder can display a wide range of deficiencies in moderate to severe communication skills, social skills and behavioral problems, according to “The Autism Sourcebook: Everything You Need to Know About Diagnosis, Treatment, Coping, and Healing” by Karen Siff Exkorn.

The three most common early symptoms of autistic disorder are a lack of eye contact, a lack of pointing and a lack of responding.

After doing extensive research, Conner learned about how a casein/gluten-free diet can help improve symptoms in autistic children.

That same day, she said, she emptied out the fridge and restocked it with gluten-free and casein-free (GFCF) foods “because it is harmless and because it is worth a shot.”

“I say that one never knows whatever this diet can do to help, maybe it can take you one step closer to recovery. I tried it because I know there is no way it was going to hurt him at all.”

The casein/gluten-free diet eliminates all foods that contain gluten, wheat, oats, barley and rye. All dairy products, which are a source of casein, are banned.

A week later, she noticed immediate results. “His spinning slowed down, he wasn’t as hyper … now he’s petting the cat and the dog. Before, he didn’t care if I was there and now he kisses and hugs.”

Autistic children tend to have food allergies and overactive immune systems, said Dr. Cindy Schneider, who treats individuals with autism and other developmental disorders at the Center for Autism and Research Education in Phoenix.

Their immune system is automatically making antibodies against their brain tissue, so anything that triggers an immune response – including a food allergy – is going to make the situation worse, Schneider said.

“The biggest offenders for autistic children are gluten and casein because they tend to have difficulty digesting the foods.”

For example, the amino acids in a warm glass of milk can help induce sleep in some individuals. But autistic children, whose digestive tracts generally don’t break it down very well, can experience an exaggerated morphine effect.

“So whenever your brain is inflamed, you’re not going to have normal behavior or normal concentration, learning or anything else,” Schneider said. “They can become hyperactive, irritable, their self-stimulatory behavior goes up … like meaningless behaviors like hand-flapping, rocking and saying the same thing over and over again … the autistic behaviors escalate.”

Alma Short’s son was diagnosed with autism at the age of 3. He’s now 4 years old and has been on the diet for about a year.

“It’s been one of the hardest things to do … to keep up with it,” Short said. “But I have seen great improvement with that diet. I saw little changes right away and then within months, my son’s social interaction increased.”

Short said she was a skeptical about trying the diet because she wasn’t sure of how her son would respond to the meals, but therapy and the diet helped him on the right track.

“I would never remove my kid from the diet. It’s amazing to see that my kid can actually recognize everybody. And he calls me mom … when it was just a blank stare before.”

Schneider, who also has two sons with autism, advises that any mother who wants to place her autistic child on the diet first seek the guidance of a physician or a nutritionist because the child may be a picky eater. That will ensure the child receives the needed nutrients.

Michelle Vielbig said her 5-year-old son has been on the casein/gluten-free diet for almost three years now. “The diet changed his life. It really did.”

It was hard work for her son to start the diet, she said, because he was used to drinking almost half a gallon of milk a day. “He would stand in front of the refrigerator for hours and scream. It wasn’t easy.” Vielbig said.

But within two weeks, her son began speaking for the first time – although “it was pretty much not functional language, it was just language. After we started the diet, the first thing I noticed was he actually realized that people came in and out of the room…”

Conner, who is director of the Yuma Autism Support Group, says this natural approach is good start for mothers who are hesitant about placing their child on trial medications for autism.

“I won’t go back. He’s going to be on this diet for the rest of this life and he’ll continue the diet when it is his turn,” Conner said.

For learn more about GFCF meal recipes, e-mail Conner at autismyuma@yahoo.com

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Stephanie Sanchez can be reached at ssanchez@yumasun.com or 539-6847.

By Dr. Thomas Coffman

Why do some cases of autism spectrum disorders have a favorable response to eliminating gluten and casein proteins? Well, first let’s identify the offenders, then we’ll look at what happens to them in the body and then the brain.

Gluten is a protein that is found in wheat, oats, rye and barley. Including malt, soy sauce, flavorings and artificial colors. Casein is a protein found in dairy products. It can also be found in non-milk products such as soy cheese, hot dogs in the form of caseinate.

Now, here is the theory. When eliminated from the diet, the body is not burdened with products it can not properly digest, and the body turns these substances into byproducts that mimic opiates. The child’s behavior, responses to their environment, and perceptions become skewed.

It should be noted that not all children have a dramatic improvement in speech or behavior, but numerous families have noted that out of all the interventions they have tried, implementing a gluten/casein diet modification has produced immediate results. Then all you have to do is continue with this process, by implementing additional therapies and nutritional interventions, including environmental detoxification.

There are specific medical tests that can be ordered by your pediatrician that can assist in determining if your child has a sensitivity or allergy to gluten/casein products. It is important to specify that you intend on incorporating a gluten/casein diet into your child’s treatment routine. If the tests come back with results indicating no allergy to the above mentioned, then it will save you a huge headache in introducing this specific diet. I’ve had several young mothers call after speaking to our dietician or nutritionist, frustrated with the difficulty of changing shopping behaviors. Though most stores now have sections in the nutrition departments that have identified gluten/casein-free products, including providing parents with a list of available products. Yet, many stores still have no idea what you are talking about.

A much simpler way for people that do not carry enough health insurance, or if they will not cover various tests, is to systematically remove one food item at a time, and note any changes in behavior or physical symptoms over a one to two week period. Some parents remove all GFCF products, and introduce one at a time. This method tends to be quicker, thus providing an immediate return on your interventions.

Remember, food today is genetically modified and is not the same that our ancestors evolved with over the last five to 10 generations. To get an idea of what I’m talking about, anyone who has changed their pets’ food abruptly knows what happens. Anyway, in an effort to increase harvest and size of produce, it also has its negative side. Something that I teach in my “Managing the Spectrum” lectures, is we need to take note of the Amish, and there lack of autistic disorders in their communities. The only case found so far was a child that was recently adopted from an American family returning from China with a young child. A little history first, when they visited China, the child was fine, or no remarkable diseases or disorders. But, once the child was “selected for adoption,” the child went through all her normal routine immigration medical criteria. Which, unless they are adopted, do not receive the same health care interventions.

It is also interesting to note that another group is gaining attention in Minnesota. It was brought to my attention a few weeks ago by another journalist that I’d be interested in a story published by the Associated Press. The article noted that based on population, the Somali children consisted of 6 percent of the children in the Minneapolis school system, but were counting for 25 percent of the children enrolled in the early childhood autism programs. It’s of interest to note that while awaiting immigration to countries like the United States and Sweden some children receive the same vaccinations three or four times due to inadequate record keeping.

A few years ago, one of my patients was instrumental in co-authoring legislation in Iowa banning thimerosal in childhood vaccines. The state of California followed suit. Now, one has to ask the question, where do these vaccines go, once they have been deemed unsafe for child immunizations?

It has been suspected that these vaccines have found their way to aid agencies in Africa and sold to China. When I first heard that, I thought to myself, they’re going to be furious. Some countries do not vaccinate until the infant brain has adequately developed, i.e. 3 years of age. But it is common practice to fully immunize prior to adoption and immigration into the United States and other countries.

Several members of our staff have crossed over the aisle from conventional medicine and have established theories and protocols consistent with the conservative holistic medicinal communities. Several of our nurses, physician assistants and physicians have established a vaccinate wisely protocol. Know what you are getting, ask why you are getting it and spread them out.

In some cases, if you have a child that has developed a pervasive developmental disorder (PDD), you may want to consider exploring a medical waiver if you suspect vaccine injury, linked to a predisposed genetic vulnerability, when getting routine childhood vaccinations for the rest of the house.

Adults tolerate vaccinations much better than the highly vulnerable infant nervous system. Think of the Amish the next time you vaccinate. Remember, their food is different, the clothing textiles are different, and the containers they store their food in are different. The big one is, they have zero documented cases of PDD or autism.

I would be interested to see how many wives of physicians would be willing to give birth in a foreign country, do some aide work for two years, then return to the States, knowing they will have to go through the same routine. Just a thought.

Dr. Thomas Coffman is the medical director of the British Clinic Health System, host of Integrative Medicine Radio, and author of four books on homeopathic psychology, ancient Egyptian medicine, and managing the spectrum. Coffman lectures for the British Institute of Homeopathy in the United States and England.

Thomas Coffman, House Call