On Mon, 30 Mar 1998, Mary wrote:

> Today I let my autistic  son (5, almost 6)  have some rice bread and some
> cashew butter.
>
> How nice it was not to have to fight with him to get him to eat it.
>
> I am sick myself and don't have the energy to do this diet anymore.(at least
> right now) For some weird  reason, (like being ill and exhausted)  I just
> gave in, could not go on.
>
> How much damage will rice do to him? I am contemplating a gluten free diet
> as I can't do so many different diets in one family!

I understand your predicament.  I don't think the rice will do
any harm, especially if it is balanced by protein.  Personally, I
think the fighting can be as destructive as anything in the diet,
if not more so.

My autistic son has made gains comparable to your son's, and I
attribute much of that to his gluten-free diet.  We have found
that the presence or absence of dairy doesn't make much
difference, but we try to minimize it since in any case it tends
to cause constipation.  You should also keep in mind that many
autistic kids get much better all by themselves, for reasons that
nobody understands.

Plus, I still wonder about the blood type connection, since
autistic people are so heavily represented in the A group.  I
noted with interest that Loren Cordain mentioned the influence of
lectins on the immune system.  According to D'Adamo, rice
contains no lectins that offend the immune systems of type A
people.

Todd Moody
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