Tag Archives: autism diet

Extreme Diets Damage Autistic People

Note: This article contains discussion of disordered eating. For many parents of a newly-diagnosed autistic child, a quick internet search into autism tells them that changing their child’s diet is a smart first step towards “improving” autistic behaviors or other co-occuring conditions. Despite the popularity of “autism diets”, research shows that there is insufficient proof that they do anything positive at all. Nevertheless, strictly regimenting the diet of autistic children continues to be common. I was one of those autistic children, and my parents thought they were doing what was best for me. Though parents may believe this is for the benefit of their child, my own experience on an autism diet led to permanent harm. Growing up, I was not allowed to eat a laundry list of seemingly random foods: dairy, sesame seeds, mangoes, peanuts, whole wheat. In order to avoid explaining my autism diagnosis to me, my … Continue Reading ››