What do you do until diagnosis? + nutrition query

544 Views 1 Reply 2 Participants Last post by thoesly, Jun 16, 2004

elfinbaby

Discussion Starter · Jun 16, 2004

It's going to be months before we are even able to see a specialist to check dd out. She could be developmentally delayed, she could be autistic, she could be something I've never heard of. We've begun the process - filling out forms, have an evaluation with ECI this Friday but they have stressed they are not drs. and will not give a diagnosis. I want to read and be prepared. 95% of the books on autism are perpetually checked out of the library and I can't afford to spend tons of $$ on them - esp. to find out I'm reading about the wrong blasted thing! I've found some great website suggestions here and book suggestions as well. I'm just frustrated.

Ds has some characteristics of aspergers so I thought I'd start with nutrition there. I'm waiting for Children with Starving Brains to come back to the library. I've also looked at the Feingold diet. Is it worth the price? How many of the extras are necessary? Any other diets? I read about Special Diets for Special Children yesterday.

Nutrition is the only place I feel good about starting. I just wish I knew if dd was developmentally delay, slow, autistic, etc. I read things and think "No she's not autistic." Then I read something else and think "That sounds just like her!" It's going to be a long 4 mos. until we find out. Oh! We did have some blood tests run - lead, anemia, thyroid. T3 Thyroid was out of whack, had an u/s, came back normal. So I guess that's good.

What to do what to do. Hrmph.

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thoesly

· #2 · Jun 16, 2004

One of the main diets that parents of autistic kids use is the GFCF diet (gluten-free/casein-free) which is what Special Diets for Special Kids is about. The book is very good for giving background and getting started. A less expensive alternative is to find the background info online (do a websearch, check out GFCF Kids message board on Yahoo), and get a copy of Living Without magazine from the health food store. That magazine has lists of ingredients to watch for on labels.

Other parents have had luck with the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. The book is Breaking the Vicious Cycle. A good website with lots of information is www.pecanbread.com

You might see if you can get a copy of Is This Your Child? by Doris Rapp. It addresses food allergies and environmental allergies and can help with a quick (21-days?) elimination diet if you think that is the problem.

I haven't used the Feingold Diet, but I've heard good things about it -- I know there are some threads on MDC.

You might want to take a look at what your child eats now. My son was hooked on milk, bread, and crackers prior to implementing the GFCF diet. People are often addicted to the very foods that cause a problem. Eliminating dairy produced results in just days (he slept through the night for the first time ever). It takes months to get gluten out of the system, but if it works, it's well worth the effort.

Feel free to ask more questions, here or on PM, if I can help you more.

Tara

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