On Thu, 4 Nov 1999, Ben Balzer wrote:

> Because the logical implication is that the Paleolithic diet is probably the
> ideal neurodevelopmental diet, and may be the ideal diet for children with
> autism and lead poisoning and ADD. Since all other therapies are wanting (or
> are just useless supplements flogged by snake oil salesmen), there are a
> number of reasons to be hopeful that a paleo diet can help these children.
> I'm sure some of our lurkers and active list have experience with these
> children with Paleo- what's your experience?

As a parent of a child diagnosed with autism (PDD, to be exact)
when he was 3, I have mixed feelings about this.  We did have him
on a gluten-free, casein-free diet that was also rather low-carb
for over 3 years.  During this time he improved dramatically.
When we ended the dietary intervention, however, he did not
deteriorate but continued to improve.  At his last clinical
evaluation we were informed that he no longer satisfies
diagnostic criteria for any label on the autistic spectrum.  His
remaining "issues" are intermittent attentional problems.  Those
problems have always been there; the diet didn't help in this
respect.

I am open to the theory that the dietary intervention allowed his
system to heal from whatever caused the problems in the first
place, but it is also quite possible that he would have improved
anyway.  I do know of a few other children who have also shown
dramatic improvements with no dietary changes whatever, and more
than a few for whom heroic dietary interventions made no
difference at all.

There is just too much we don't know.  While I don't doubt that
something like a paleo diet is ideal for children and adults, I
am not prepared to say that it is always the treatment of choice
for various medical and developmental conditions.  It's well
worth a try, but it's also true that I have seen parents drive
themselves and their children to the edge of insanity trying to
enforce various dietary restrictions.  There is no easy answer
here.

Todd Moody
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