Eating for Autism
April 27, 2010 by Abby
Filed under Featured Books
Does your child with autism have issues with nutrition and diet? This has become a very prominent issue in the autism community especially in relation to the Gluten-Free/Casein-Free diet. In addition to that, though, many kids with autism have feeding issues related to food refusal, food selectivity, and other problem behaviors around the feeding routine. There are many more questions than answers at this point due to limited conclusive research, but the book I’m recommending this week is a good place to start in regards to nutrition.
Elizabeth Strickland, a certified dietitian and nutritional expert, wrote a book entitled “Eating for Autism: The 10-Step Nutrition Plan to Help Treat Your Child’s Autism, Asperger’s, or ADHD”. The information you’ll find in the book is both accessible and useful for parents who may be dealing with these issues. Ms. Strickland does a wonderful job outlining specific steps for parents to take. She begins by discussing how to transition your child to a healthy diet which is free (or as free as possible) of chemicals and additives. The rest of the book covers topics such as basic nutrients, vitamins, resolving feeding problems, food allergies, elimination diets and supplements.
I love how she starts the discussion of diet and nutrition by focusing on diet and nutrition. This sounds simple enough, but in many cases parents and interventionists dive into the behavioral treatment without first addressing whether or not the child is eating food that is healthy and free of chemicals which may be impacting them. Our food today is full of additives and preservatives (which she discusses in detail) and although there is not much in the way of research regarding how these chemicals impact development, she suggests that eliminating or reducing these from your child’s diet is the first step to resolving issues. While this in and of itself is not likely to fix issues parents of children with autism are having, it really is a wonderful first step.
The second part of this book is a GF/CF cookbook with many great recipes which will satisfy children and adults alike. She presents recipes which can substitute for things children are already eating but with a nutritious spin. We all recognize that sitting your child down with broiled chicken and steamed green beans isn’t likely to go over well for children who are already presenting with feeding issues, but you can use this recipe book to change out preferred processed foods (i.e. breaded chicken nuggets) with a more healthy alternative. These small changes can go a long way.
Post your comments and questions:
1. Have you read this book? Post your review here.
2. Does your child with autism have nutritional or feeding issues? Tell us about them or post questions about them here.
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When you say we can control ADHD kids with diet, how does that fit a kid on a gtube(because of Eosinophilic esophagitis and extreme food allergies)? Jake(age 9yrs) wasn’t diagnosed with ADHD until almost a year after being formula only(he was 8yrs). So I always wondered, how would you explain that, if his ADHD is obviously not diet related, or controlled. His formula is Neocate Jr.
Thanks so much, I’d love to read your book, if it could help our situation. Jake is on Concerta and doing fabulous(pulling A’s and B’s even when missing half the school year because of his EE).
Thank you for your question Chanda! I’m definitely not implying that you can control or “fix” the symptoms of Autism or ADHD by simply changing the child’s diet. For many kids, though, eliminating processed foods with high levels of additives may be a great start to addressing feeding issues and possibly have an impact on behavior. Your son seems to fall into a different category with his medical issues. Since the formula you’re feeding him is protein based with little-to-no additives, there’s really nothing to eliminate in terms of processed food additives. In terms of the timing of his diagnosis, it is possible that the resolution of his medical issues by putting him on a g-tube with a restricted diet actually uncovered his ADHD symptoms (also, ADHD is many times diagnosed after the age of 7). I’m glad to hear that you’ve found a good combination of therapies for Jake with the g-tube and Concerta… it sounds like he’s doing very well!
I think you would really enjoy the book Eating for Autism by Elizabeth Strickland. Even if not all the information is applicable to your situation, there is a lot of wonderful information in there regarding balanced nutrition and its impact on behavior. I will let you know if I find any other books you might find helpful in your situation.
how do you get a 4 yr. old to eat other foods? He will only eat toast, store bought waffles, french fries. He will eat fruits and drink milk and juices. he is on a vitamin supplement and we have tried a protein (greens) powder in his juice…a little at a time but he has detected this and the juice is just pushed aside. Thanks for your help.
Thank you for your question Phyllis! Depending on the child and the reason they’re not eating, feeding interventions can be very different. If your child is not eating the food you’re putting in front of him and eating his preferred foods instead, then using a clear behavioral contingency may be effective in getting him to eat other foods. What I mean by this is implementing a contingency such as “First eat 1 bite of chicken, and then you get a french fry”. If he doesn’t eat the chicken, he doesn’t get the french fry. If he does eat the chicken, he gets a french fry. You would continue to repeat this contingency and then slowly increase the amount of chicken he has to consume before he gets a french fry as he is successful.
While putting it in these terms makes it sound very simple, I’m aware that it’s not always that easy because setting up this contingency can potentially lead to disruptive behaviors. Due to this risk, I would highly advise consulting with a behavioral specialist and have a plan of action before you begin your intervention. You definitely need to be prepared to follow through, no matter how long it takes or the intensity of the behavior. Many times this means having a team of people available to help you since it is not always as easy as it sounds on paper.
The biggest caveat with feeding interventions is that our society has emotional connections to food and eating. What I mean by this is that many times parents will run into trouble with feeding interventions because they want their child to eat food so they don’t starve. This becomes problematic because many children will initially engage in disruptive behaviors and may not eat the food presented no matter how big the reward. This is typically the point at which parents will give up on the intervention because they want their child to eat something. Behaviorally speaking, however, all you would be teaching your child if you gave in would be that all they need to do is hold out long enough and they won’t have to eat the food you wanted them to. This is why I highly advise working with a behavioral specialist because you potentially run the risk of worsening the problem if the intervention is not implemented properly.
I’m really glad that you’re identifying a problem now and ready to help your child increase the number of foods he’s consuming. It is definitely better to start now rather than waiting until his diet is even more restricted. Please let me know if I can be of more help. Good luck!!