UK Disability Resource of Disabled Needs

pixie · Site Admin Joined: 16 Jun 2007 Posts: 1958

My daughter has come back from OZ and is now on a gluten free diet.
She's hoping it will help her tummy pain and bowel problems and I'm hoping it will also have an effect on her mental health.

Any thoughts from anyone who has tried it for older people with ASD?

pixie · Site Admin Joined: 16 Jun 2007 Posts: 1958

Well it has been 2 weeks now and so far the diet is positive.

Her tummy pain has gone and we have noticed her mood has been much better. She's noticed her mood changes too.

It's all looking good so far so keep your fingers crossed that it continues.

shorty · Jr. Member Joined: 30 Sep 2007 Posts: 25

Hi pixie, I have just joined this forum...I saw it had won most meaningful forum on the MFF support forum and came for a look. This topic caught my eye.

My son is coeliac so has to follow a strict gluten free diet. He doesn't have any other problems apart from "dyspraxic tendencies" though I am sure he is dyspraxic.

He is now 14 and was diagnosed when he was 2 so we are very well used to the gluten free diet, please feel free to ask me anything about the diet, recipes, hints and tips etc.

It is classic for coeliac's mood to alter drastically for the better once they are established on a gluten free diet so I cannot help but wonder if your daughter is actually coeliac. Has she been tested?

pixie · Site Admin Joined: 16 Jun 2007 Posts: 1958

Hi Shorty, did I win, wow I didn't know I'd won. Nobody told me but maybe they wait until all the categories are finished with the judging.
Thanks for letting me know Shorty.

Welcome to the forum by the way, please feel free to put a link in a sig to your forum if you like.

My daughter hasn't been tested for Coeliac's but just decided to go on the diet at the suggestion of a lady who works with Autistic kids. My daughter has an Autistic Spectrum Disorder but refused to try the diet when she was younger. She's 21 now so it's her choice.

She loves the Juvela foods which taste very much like "ordinary" bread.

My son was on the gluten free diet for a year or two and it helped him no end. He was tested for Coeliac's which was negative.

You're right about her mood, it has changed so much and we don't find we have to walk on eggshells so much any more. She also has a job now and enjoys every minute of that. She's just a different person altogether and it's a pleasure to see and spend time with her.

You wouldn't think that elliminating something from your diet would make so much difference.

All hints and tips are most welcome and I will pass them onto my daughter. She does live with us but does mostly her own cooking.

shorty · Jr. Member Joined: 30 Sep 2007 Posts: 25

ooh I am so glad the change in diet has had such a positive effect on her. I use the juvela sliced white bread and gluten free mix (sometimes it comes up as bread mix on the prescription but it isn't its straight juvela gluten free mix).

It is the perfect replacement for self raising flour when making cakes and buns, my pals ask me to make them cakes even though they are not coeliac!

The Dove plain flour in the supermarkets is great for pastry as its more like plain flour.

You probably know all this though if your son followed the diet.

Sainsbury's do brilliant frozen GF shepherds pie., chicken kiev, pizza's, yorkshire puds....all sorts. Its expensive but brilliant when you cant be bothered cooking.

Again, apologies if I am teaching my grandmother to suck eggs xxxx

shorty · Jr. Member Joined: 30 Sep 2007 Posts: 25

sorry, I also meant to say, the only proper diagnosis for coeliac disease is the jujenal biopsy, the blood tests can give false negatives but the biopsy is quite traumatic as they have to be sedated rather than fully anaesthetised.

I didn't like to put a link to my forum in my siggy as we dont allow the link in siggy's in our forum, but this is the link

http://holidaychat.myfreeforum.or...=965c18eddf20c70957d4984220381547

If you apply to join our forum I will activate you, you are very welcome to put a link to your forum in our advertising bit (at the bottom of the main index page) I know we do have some members with children that have disabilities. Just introduce yourself in the into forum and point people towards your forum, its fine to do that.

Sorry, also meant to say, the benefit of being diagnosed is to save money, you can pay for a one year prescription thingy and get all the bread, baguettes, crackers, flour, pasta, plain biscuits, pizza bases on prescription which will save you money.

Our prescripts are still free as he is 14.

Again apologies if I am telling you what you already know, and WELL DONE for winning!!

pixie · Site Admin Joined: 16 Jun 2007 Posts: 1958

No need to apologise, it's all very useful info. It was while ago now so I am a bit out of touch with it these days.

We don't get it on prescription and it is expensive but we may well go and have a word with the GP to see if he will prescribe it. He did for our son.

I used to love the cakes we baked when our son was on the diet.

My daughter's also a veggie so her diet is restricted in that way too. She eats loads of fruit and is really trying to eat sensibly now. I have had to take more control which seems alien to me given her age and the need for independence. But needs must.

You can probably tell that I'm so excited about this diet and the changes it has brought about so forgive me if I go on a bit.

shorty · Jr. Member Joined: 30 Sep 2007 Posts: 25

nothing to apologise for! I can still remember the absolutely amazing change in my son once he'd been gluten free for a while...it took 3 weeks in our case but he was a totally different child! His first words were "tummy hurts" and he was a whining, moaning, miserable little boy until he went gluten free, then he just changed into a happy, lively child!

He looked and behaved totally differently and also started sleeping through for the first time in his life.

Have you joined the coeliac society? Its well worth it, their website is an absolute mine of information and the gluten free food and drink directory is our bible!

Speeds · Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2007 8:20 pm Post subject:

Wow this thread is amazing. Thanks to you both for sharing this.

Good luck Pixie - it all sounds really promising.

I will also recommend this to a friend of mine who has 3 kids on a gluten free diet.
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pixie · Site Admin Joined: 16 Jun 2007 Posts: 1958

I used to be a member and the gluten free directory was a real godsend.

We also had lists from Tesco and Safeway as the ingredients often change so they always provided us with their lists.

I think my daughter is doing all the looking up on the net and on the Coeliacs Society website because she tells me what to buy for her once she's checked it out. She really is being very good and not cheating at all.

Thanks for all the great info Shorty, keep it coming as it may be helpful to others too.