Autism / Autism Spectrum Support Group
Autism is classified as a neurodevelopmental disorder which manifests itself in markedly abnormal social interaction, communication ability, patterns of interests, and patterns of behavior. Although the specific etiology of autism is unknown, many researchers suspect that autism results from genetically mediated vulnerabilities to environmental triggers.
Hey all,
My name is June and my 3 year old nephew has recently been diagnosed with low end autism. He's nonverbal except for a few words like "no no" and words he made up that he likes to repeat over and over, and he is absolutely the sweetest little guy ever. My sister is obviously very distressed over the diagnosis and doesn't know what to do. She doesn't know much about the disorder and I have been trying to teach her what I can because I am a 3rd year psychology student and I have studied the disorder quite a bit.
My main concern right now is my nephews diet. Our mom worked 2 jobs and never cooked, we grew up on a diet of pop and candy bars and potato chips literally with or for every meal. I have drastically changed my diet as an adult but my sister has not, she still drinks about a 2 liter of soda a day and her kids are picking up on this habit.
Every day her 2 and 3 year old have 3 or 4 popsicles, a can of soda or more, tons of sugary juices, (they don't drink water or milk AT ALL), donuts, suckers, marshmallows cookies and any other sugary junk around. I am not exaggerating when I say they have these snacks every hour. My nephew already has cavities. They don't eat veggies outside of mcdonalds fries and although they do eat fruit daily I don't think it helps counteract the other junk much.
I am not trying to make my sister look bad or feel bad because I know that she is not doing it on purpose she just has absolutely no knowledge of nutrition and how food and vitamins work within the body because she never had a chance to learn it.
I want to tell my sister my concerns without sounding like a busy body or like I am trying to tell her how to raise her kids, so I was hoping someone here on DS might have some suggestions about educational materials or websites that could help my sister understand the nutritional needs of toddlers and how important vitamins and veggies are for kids at this age especially for autistic kids, (I don't know of any studies definitively linking it but how can zero nutrients and huge amounts of sugar help a developing brain?!).
If anyone could direct me to a good documentary or videos to inform my sister or if you know of especially important foods for young kids to help brain development that would be great! Right now I am learning to make "green smoothies" for myself of 50/50 veg and fruits so I was also hoping to introduce them to my sister but so far she laughs if I try to suggest it because they are so picky.
Any help is appreciated, thanks so much in advance!
My name is June and my 3 year old nephew has recently been diagnosed with low end autism. He's nonverbal except for a few words like "no no" and words he made up that he likes to repeat over and over, and he is absolutely the sweetest little guy ever. My sister is obviously very distressed over the diagnosis and doesn't know what to do. She doesn't know much about the disorder and I have been trying to teach her what I can because I am a 3rd year psychology student and I have studied the disorder quite a bit.
My main concern right now is my nephews diet. Our mom worked 2 jobs and never cooked, we grew up on a diet of pop and candy bars and potato chips literally with or for every meal. I have drastically changed my diet as an adult but my sister has not, she still drinks about a 2 liter of soda a day and her kids are picking up on this habit.
Every day her 2 and 3 year old have 3 or 4 popsicles, a can of soda or more, tons of sugary juices, (they don't drink water or milk AT ALL), donuts, suckers, marshmallows cookies and any other sugary junk around. I am not exaggerating when I say they have these snacks every hour. My nephew already has cavities. They don't eat veggies outside of mcdonalds fries and although they do eat fruit daily I don't think it helps counteract the other junk much.
I am not trying to make my sister look bad or feel bad because I know that she is not doing it on purpose she just has absolutely no knowledge of nutrition and how food and vitamins work within the body because she never had a chance to learn it.
I want to tell my sister my concerns without sounding like a busy body or like I am trying to tell her how to raise her kids, so I was hoping someone here on DS might have some suggestions about educational materials or websites that could help my sister understand the nutritional needs of toddlers and how important vitamins and veggies are for kids at this age especially for autistic kids, (I don't know of any studies definitively linking it but how can zero nutrients and huge amounts of sugar help a developing brain?!).
If anyone could direct me to a good documentary or videos to inform my sister or if you know of especially important foods for young kids to help brain development that would be great! Right now I am learning to make "green smoothies" for myself of 50/50 veg and fruits so I was also hoping to introduce them to my sister but so far she laughs if I try to suggest it because they are so picky.
Any help is appreciated, thanks so much in advance!
Here are some great tips from Parents Magazine about how to get your kids eating healthy! All of them seem like steps that could gradually worked into their daily routines.
http://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver.html
Here is a video from TED Talks which are very popular and informative about multiple topics. This may be worth showing her!
My brother has autism and we started multiple diets with him throughout the years, such as gluten-free and organic diets, but the best advice I could give you is to consult your doctors!
I hope his helped!
Sources of GLUTEN to Avoid
Gluten Grains:
Wheat
Rye
Barley
Spelt
Kamut
Triticale
Oats (commercial)
GF oats are available
It is pretty easy to substitute your childs favorite foods with gluten-free optionsGF waffles, GF pancakes, GF muffins, GF pasta are all readily available in stores.