Hi! Helping my son

[mrs_nosey]

Hello, my sone has Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism and has had dietary problems since birth. We thought it was milk related and have recently been advised by the dietician to take all milk out of his diet. We have a long target - all milk out by school hols next summer so that we can take the gluten out too for 6 weeks (I'm not looking forward to that bit). We have been playing at it for about 18 months - I mean we have avoids 'direct' dairy - milk, cheese, yogs. Now we are trying to go the whole hog but he's really missing the treats. He is going for the full range of allergy/intolerance tests soon.

Mrs Nosey :unsure:

[matt]

i'll be able to help when you go gluten free aswell as i follow that regime. it's a pain but possible, if your doctors suggesting it then maybe they'll prescribe which'll make your life easier. i'd not bother going the whole hog with milk until after the various tests. most tests look for the anti bodies in the blood for each problem food. if you've not been eating them then no antibodies. unless you've been told to definately stop the milk prior to the tests that is. you aren't clear about who has said what and how urgent they said to eliminate milk.

good luck with the tests.

[Pam]

I assume that you will cutting down on additives in your son's diet as well as milk, so you are probably better off looking in health food shops or on the free from/organic shelves in supermarkets. Both Tesco and sainsburys have a reasonable range of dairy free sweets these days so you should be able to find something there. I can recommend Allergycare Whizzers which are like smarties but without the harsh colourings, they are free from milk, nasty additives and possibly wheat. You might find them in the supermarkets but Holland and Barratt and most health food shops sell them (they also come in different varieties - foil wrapped footballs, mini eggs and chocolate mint balls). There are a number of chewy bars available in health food shops, free from "milk" chocolate in supermarkets or plain chocolate of various brands.

For desserts, Provamel make some nice custard type ones, or they do Yofu which is just like yoghurt. There are lots of supermarket own brand buns and biscuits that are ok, just check the ingredients (most now list if they contain milk).

Swedish Glace ice cream is better than dairy ice cream (particularly vanilla) and is available in most supermarkets, though there are other brands and choc ices etc in health food shops.

Goodness Foods Direct is an on line shop that does lots of health food and special diet foods via the internet (even chilled and frozen) and they list "free from dairy" "free from wheat" etc so you should be able to see what foods are suitable. It think there is a link to that site from the shops button on the home page here.

[Bet]

I have 2 close friends who's sons are both autistic (10 and 6) and they have both been on a milk and gluten free diet for a number of years. I'm not sure if they are actually allergic to these things or iif it helps with their behaviour - whichever it is my friend swears by it and says that over half of the children at her sons school also follow this diet.

Some parents can get their soya milk etc on prescription but others like my friends dont - it depends on the doctor you see from what I can gather.

The whizzers Pam mentioned are OK because they definately eat these - also the sainsburys milk free choc soya bars which are very nice.

Special diets are tough but when you see the positive results they bring you know it is all worth while!

Good luck

Bet

[matt]

fish oils are meant to be helpfull for all those type of conditions. not medically proven but it wouldn't do any harm to take a supplement daily. lots to choose from designed for kids.