Autism Spectrum Disorder is a broad spectrum of disorders, hence the use of the word "spectrum" in its title. Autism is becoming more understood nowadays by the public, due in part to publicity by celebrities with autistic children. Everyone knows someone with autism and a lot of people have heard of success stories. I think by far the most popular piece of advice for well-meaning folks to dish out is this: "Have you tried a gluten-free casein-free diet? I've heard it cures autism." Cutting out all wheat (or ANY type of gluten) and cow's milk protein from a child's diet is extremely difficult. But is this Gluten-Free Casein-Free (GFCF) diet a miracle cure or a myth?

Yes, I've tried my son on the GFCF diet and it most defintely had no effect whatsoever on him. Evidence surrounding the GFCF dietary cure for autism is mostly anecdotal. So far, all the success stories I've come across involve autistic kids who are low-functioning. These kids do not speak, do not respond to stimuli, don't dress themselves, feed themselves, toilet train, etc. Parents of these children who try the GFCF diet find that within a matter of days their child will start to speak, or finally respond when playing simple games or take an interest in Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) such as toileting, dressing, or feeding. My son had little problem with most of these things.

I took him to the doctor and asked, "What good will a GFCF diet do? Am I just making life hard for myself for no good reason?" My doctor gave my son a blood test for celiac disease. When it came back negative, she gave me a simple explanation of why it may work for some autistic children and not for others.

People with celiac disease cannot metabolize gluten properly. Some people also have a similar problem metabolizing the protein in cow's milk, as they are apparently similar in molecular structure. The improperly digested food can produce a byproduct similar to morphine. This is likely why autistic children who respond to a GFCF diet are usually the low-functioning type. Morphine helps a patient not feel as much pain and is very sedative. If you've ever seen your autistic child harm himself over and over, it may help to understand that a naturally occuring morphine-like substance could be causing him/her not to feel as much pain. As for sedation, this could easily explain a young child's lack of language skills, and ADLs.

"What's the risk?" I asked rhetorically. There was none - no aquired inability to digest wheat or cow's milk or nutritional deficiency, as long as the test was short, about 3 months or so. If the GFCF diet had no effect on my son after 3 months, we'd return to a normal diet. Despite my doctor's explanation and testing negative for celiac disease, I thought, "Why not!!"

Let me tell you, it was a horrendous adjustment at every turn. Do you realize that gluten and casein are in just about every convenience food on the market? If going on such a restrictive diet is so difficult, why would anyone try it? I daresay the cure could be worse than the disease for some, but raising a child with autism can be extremely difficult and I think parents are willing to try anything reasonable to cure it.

After 3 months of agonizing scrutiny of every ingredient in every meal, there was no difference in my son. I was both disappointed and relieved. The GFCF diet was an easy cure to find, but a would have been a difficult cure to implement. For us, the cure seemed a myth, but for the many who found this miracle cure, there's no dispelling the reality of it in their lives.