This is continued from an earlier post. Pam P. had shared with me and other members of EEAC's PEP list a diet-related treatment for Fetal Alcohol Sydrome: gluten free eating.

I'd actually grown quite complacent about the diet because my daughter had been on it for so long -- it was just a given, and sometimes I wondered whether it was worth the trouble. The past months have made me realize that it may be the basis for my daughter's unusual success for a kid with full-blown FAS, who is a sweet, well-attached and very eager-to-please child -- a 'goody two shoes' at school. Who after her extensive assessment at 19 months was predicted to be of borderline or even MR intelligence -- but now at age 6 is in a daily pull-out program for gifted readers. My view of her in the weeks before Christmas when infracting on the diet has now put that diet at the top of my list in terms of importance!

There's lots more information on the above web site, but the basics are: 1) to be 100% sure you've removed ALL sources of gluten and casein, this is an all-or-nothing diet -- which may mean trying this during a vacation period, and definitely means a lot of label-reading. Many folks who see no reaction the first time they try this later find they had lots of "hidden" gluten and casein remaining. Many items labelled "gluten free" actually are not; many "lactose free" products still contain casein; 2) be prepared for some initial irritability and perhaps even worsening of behaviors, but this should be temporary.

It's actually resulted in an improvement for every alcohol-affected child that Diane knows who has tried it (with the caveat that she may of course not have heard from those who were not successful). It doesn't help all kids with PDD/autism either. There's a yahoo group called "GFCF kids" that, while aimed pretty exclusively at the autism community, is dedicated with supporting folks.

I can attest to the fact that this is a difficult diet, and I can only imagine how hard it would be if your child wasn't with you all the time. I did both gluten and casein-free the first year of my diagnosis and it wasa pain. Lots of time at potlucks and restaurants there was nothing for me to eat! But it can be done, and apparently for some people it is quite successful. It is worth a try, in my opinion. We are what we eat.