autism cure

Published

Anyone see Jenny Mcarthy on 20/20 last night? She claims the cure to autism is simply diet modification. It appeared to work wonders for her little boy. I believe it was the dairy and gluten free diet or something along those lines. There is currently a study on it at a university that I cannot think of atm either. Worth keeping an eye on.

Specializes in Post Anesthesia.

With autism Dx at an all time high and medical options still limited there seems to be a new "cure" for autism every mos. The same thing occurs but less frequently for down syndrome and other developmental disabilities. My advise- if it's nutritionaly sound, not harmful or dangerous, and you and your child like it- do it; what have you got to lose. The biggest problem with some of these "cures" is that they can take all the energy you could be using to enjoy your child and turns your relationship into a constant biology experiment.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Hospice, Med/Surg, ICU, ER.
We make all kinds of progress, and then some famous lady has to come along and claim that the cure to an entire cluster of symptom-related disorders is to take away their peanut butter samwich. Jenny McCarthy can bite my a$$.

:yeahthat:

Amen!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I have to agree with Indy. My daughter is autistic. While we always hope for a cure, we want her happy. At 15, she has progressed more than anyone could have predicted. We never tried medications or supplements or wacky diets. We did use a lot of predictability, schedules, and visual cues to help her understand her day. I shamelessly indulged her obsession with princesses to keep her motivated. All of her stuctured play (where I set a list of activities and we worked through them) utilized the princess/royalty theme. One day I realized we had progressed from counting crowns to playing chess!

We were lucky. My daughter's case is not as severe as some. The hard work it took to ease her into family and school paid off. I certainly know of very dedicated parents whose children have not done as well.

Autism is brain damage. I don't expect to see a treatment that will correct some fairly significant hard wiring errors. The best we hope for is to bolster our daughter's strengths to compensate for the weaknesses.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
For pity's sake, people who know what autism is like should just focus on trying to help the families get through the everyday business of life.

:yeahthat:

I have a 15 year old daughter with an autism spectrum disorder. I would love for all of these "professionals" and "experts" to take a walk in my shoes and see how far they get.

BTW, that diet is niether easy or cheap. It is a full time job with minimal benefits in my experience.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Pediatrics.

I saw the show on 20/20 and on Oprah, while it is nice that she offers hope that it is the diet. This is a woman who could afford all the therapies that her son needed. Therapy is very expenseive, and some insurance compaines will not cover it and schools systems may not be able to provide what a autistic child really needs. She is in a place where she could afford all the therapies that her son would need. So could it be the diet, it could be receiving the appreciate therapy and a combination of both. Her son could have very well come along on his own.

I have two boys 6 & 8. My oldest when he was young I was convinced he had autism, he had all the classic traits of autism. The tantrums, line up objects, fascination with paper and brooms. I got him enrolled in early intervention and then one day the light just went on. He went from being nonverbal to speaking in complete sentences in a matter of weeks (similar to what Jenny said about her son) however he was never on a special diet or medications. He is now 8 and "typical"

My younger son however has a different story, because I was worried about his brother I was very concerned about the shots and confirmed that his shots contained no thermisol. But guess what happened he was diagnosed as having autism, but he is very high functioning. I kept hoping that he would have a light switch moment like his older brother, but it never happed. I joke that he is on a slow dimmer swich instead. He was enrolled in early intervention at only 18 months. He has what Jenny called symptoms of autism, little quirks. He is in a mainstreamed school and is making friends and even this year is on a soccer team. Never used any special diets, in fact his neurologist recommend him having a serving of yogurt a day.

Regardless of diets what has been known to work with children with autism is early intervention. The earlier the treatment the better in the long run. Raising a child with autism is hard work, but early treatment the better chance of having a higher functioning child.

What is sad is I had to convince the doctor that there was something wrong with my boys. I had to almost beg to get a referral to a neurologist.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Pediatrics.
I saw it too . . . . I'm still a bit confused as his first symptom was a seizure and then at the end of the show she mentioned the worst part and she mentioned seizures.

Are seizures part of autism? Maybe his first seizure caused brain hypoxia . . . I have a friend whose daughter was deprived of O2 at a very difficult delivery and she is brain damaged - difficult impulse control is the most obvious symptom.

steph

Yes, seizures affect some children with autism. There is a strong link with epilepsy, turrettes and autism. Some children have all three some have a combination. Autism is like snowflakes, all very similar yet all different in their own way. No two children with autism will be the same, similar yes but never having the same symptoms and issues.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

She is a Scientologist. They don't believe meds can cure anything.....

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Diet, heavy metal poisoning, vaccines, seizures .. they could all contribute to the diagnosis of autism. TV now ..... I seriously doubt that one.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I wonder if she knows how many parents have tried those diets and how few children it has helped? For some children, it does seem to be the miracle cure but not for most.

My oldest is on the autistic spectrum and I took him off wheat gluten before he was two, because of the GI symptoms, and he was off for about ten years. I can't say that it made any big improvement when he was wheat-free, or that he got worse when he started eating it again (digestion not a problem when he was older.) Now he lives on cereal and pizza, so if gluten and casein are a problem, he's got it big time.

Trying to do a gluten and casein free diet for a stubborn 19 y.o. 6'3" vegetarian dedicated work-out hound who consumes about 4000 kcal a day - not without his own dietician and chef, I won't.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion