It is likely that no regular doctor will go there with you. Most of the doctors who would recommend a gluten free and casein free diet to you are special doctors known as DAN doctors. (I used to think that stood for Defeat Autism Now as is always typed "DAN!" with an exclamation mark, but it stands for Diet and Nutrition). They are usually very expensive. The first step is to get lots of blood work done. That is what is preventing me from going forward with it--well, that and the expense. People assure me that for $100 someone trained and experienced will come to my house and draw my son's blood and mail it off to a lab (lab costs extra, like up to $3,000 extra). I think it would be a traumatic nightmare for my son, but I may still go ahead and do it anyway if I can be assured that the veins in his arm wouldn't get all messed up. After the bloodwork comes back, then the DAN! doctor gives you advice on treatments and supplements based on chemical/toxic excesses and deficitis in your child. That's my understanding. For better info, go to tacanow.org and the socalautismintervention Yahoo group.

Hi! Diabetes runs in my extended family and that is exactly why we were wary of the GFCF diet. It has a lot of rice and other high glycemic index foods in it.

My 4 yr old ASD son loves the very same foods as your son! Will your son eat those biscuits from the refrigerated section at the store or do you have to get them from say, KFC every few days? I do that sometimes! Wyatt especially liked grated parmesan but it made him break out in a rash--we think it had to do with cheese mold. The kind of parmesan that you put in a shaker doesn't give him a rash. My son has responded well to lots of foods that can have cheese sprinkled on them, like pastas: spaghetti and mac n' cheese. He really likes McDonalds, so we get him the bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit (no bacon, because he won't eat it) and now he eats the whole thing, even the egg. He will eat the hashbrown but I don't often get them because they just seem SO UNHEALTHY. He has always liked foods on the salty side, so I don't even try to give him sweets anymore (except for graham crackers--does your kiddo like those?). He also likes quesadillas, beans and cheese, chicken strips, fries, and turkey lunch meat. Anyway, your son is almost 9, so you've probably tried out a lot these foods on him. Did he like more foods before and then just "go off" of them? That has happened to us.

I would love to add more organic foods to our diet, but they are so expensive to buy and have Michael refuse them. He eats really well at school and he has always been big for his age. He is not fat, just ahead on the height and weight. Thank you for your input.