<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> I posted that because it held special irony for me. At the time it was published, I was working at a residential treatment facility for emotionally disturbed children. We also had some pre-adjudicated youths. The focus of the treatment was changing their behaviors through behavior mod. I especially remember the two brittle diabetics whose blood sugars fluctuated and who were accused of manipulating both their diets and their insulin dosage, the 12 year old who messed his pants whenever he got stressed or frightened, & the young schizophrenic who only ate bread and milk because that's what his "controllers", i.e., the voices he heard in his head, told him was safe to eat. I don't know that the lives of these kids are any better now having been through behavior mod. I certainly wonder how their lives would be if they had been screened for celiac disease. In my town, we have that residential treatment facility, and also an educational facility that addresses the needs of MR children, Down's syndrome children, and is now opening an autism unit. What we don't have is celiac awareness to fully address these children's medical needs. Maybe there is not hard evidence addressing the incidence of gluten intolerance among schizophrenics - though my uncle was diagnosed schiz in the '50's, and I have a daughter with pervasive developmental delay, an autistic disorder. But we do know that there is a link between celiac disease and juvenile diabetes, any kid who lives on just bread and milk is going to suffer from nutritional deficiencies, and that there is a demonstrated incidence between DS children and CD, & that there is a high incidence of thyroid problems among us celiacs http://thyroid.about.com/health/thyroid/library/weekly/aa040700a.htm and there seems to be some linkage between thyroid and intelligence in offspring and thyroid and hyperactivity: http://www.thyroid.org/press/pr990819.htm http://www.mel.hcn.net.au/news/cuttingedge/17mar.htm In the end, there is a huge diversity of gastro functioning even on this list! We have symptomatic celiacs, and asymptomatics. We have people who can celebrate the veagn life, and those of us who have difficulty metabolizing corn, soy and even rice. We have the lactose intolerant and the casein intolerant The great thing about this list is that we are all welcome to it. It's just hard to make a generalization, any generalization because in the end, all we have in common is that shared intolerance to gluten in our diet. But my thanks to Natalie and Vance. The birth defect aspects of undiagnosed celiac disease have not been fully addressed. This issue should not be swept under the rug. Just this morning in my local newspaper, there was an Associated Press article about the validation of a marked increase in diagnosis of kids with behavioral problems. It's being attributed to the increasing number of poor and/or single parent households, but when is maternal health/diet going to be looked at? You can't make a healthy baby on junk and convenience food. And what about the undiagnosed asymptomatic celiac mom? I think I'll stop now. You all know where my concerns lie. Bec Erie, PA P.S. I mentioned that I had gone to that autism conference where Dr. Rimland spoke. I was able to ask him how many studies have been done re: thyroid . He answered, "Not enough." Perhaps this is our common bond. Bec Erie PA -----Original Message----- From: natalie shaw [SMTP:[log in to unmask]] The book chapter which vance cites was posted last March, by Rebecca Markle, to the list. I've forwarded it again, so that people can visit the site themselves, and read the whole text.