Do High-Functioning ASD Kids get Sick More Often?

Do ASD kids, even high-functioning ones, get sick more often?

My kid, TsukiMoon  is home sick again today.  He has missed several days of school this year to illness.  He was sick during the Christmas holidays and now, little less then a month later here he is sick again.  What's the deal?

This blog post is really more like sending a question out into the universe and see if an answer comes back.

During the holidays we vacationed in Yellowstone.  It was great but hard to carry on with the; no-dairy, no-gluten food plan.  Our child almost only eats meat and carbs.  We tried to do our best but in a place where you have to pack in all your gear, we rode in snow-cats to get to the cabin we stayed in, extra food is difficult to add.  So we just winged it.  Our take away is that either his sickness caused lots of upchucks or TsukiMoon has totally lost the ability to process dairy.  Without fail he would have a stomach clearing puke after eating dairy earlier in the day.

Never one with a strong stomach, TsukiMoon has been able to vomit, almost at will, his whole life.  When he was a baby he had serious reflux that would cause him to; nurse, have a powerful projectile puke (usually on me), then nurse again.  My breasts were HUGH, as though I was feeding twins.  The reflux went away by about the time he was a year old but the sensitive tummy did not.

Any cold that causes coughing will bring up lunch.  I have said to my husband that at least when he won't over-drink in college because his body will reject anything foreign easily.

He had a fever 2 nights ago, but being MLK on Monday he didn't have to go to school the next day.  We did take him to his regular Monday appointment with Mrs. K, the speech and language pathologist.

He works better for her when he eats.  She feeds him because he always proclaims to be "starving,"  even after having a huge meal in the car on the way there.  The food is not on the meal plan though, so the previous Monday I left several Trader Joe's treats with her for him to snack on while be taught.  I think he over ate.  Over-eating is easy for TsukiMoon to do since he seems to lack or not read the feed-back from his stomach.  Late that evening after going to bed he didn't disappoint and nuked his bed and the floor of the bathroom with ick.

Ok, so is he sick because he gets condition makes him more sensitive to germs or did he eat too much in the late afternoon causing us to have to do laundry at 10pm that night?

I don't know and I don't know how to help him. 

Halloween; Bad to Good

Objective:

Help TsukiMoon self-monitor so that emotions don't overwhelm him and bleed into his behavior.

Theory:

A gluten-free, dairy-free food plan helps TsukiMoon remain calm because his body isn't at odds with himself and he can act with more fluidity in the world.

On The Ground:

Halloween 2013; How the food plan all got started.

We live in a larger town of about 60,000 on the outskirts of a large city.  All the houses are close together so trick-or-treating can be a fruitful endeavor, much better then my experience growing up in the country where I went to 5-6 houses.  It is a wealthier town so many of the folks give out full-size candy bars.  In other words lots and lots of sweets.

TsukiMoon is not great at self-regulation when it comes to eating highly-palatable food.  He eats until he gets sick, then goes back the next day to do it again.  We try to keep tight regulation of food so he doesn't get sick.  Like anyone he doesn't like restrictions put on his food choices.  Without us realizing it he absconded with his Halloween 2013 candy.  He hid behind an overstuffed chair and ate all of his candy in two days.  It made for a terrible weekend.

He showed the more extreme symptoms of ASD; loss of words, would scream the word, "NO" at us.   He couldn't control his emotions, and would lash out us physically.  That was it for me.  I had heard that a gluten-free, dairy-free food plan helped with ASD symptoms.  We implemented it that week.

I had read that a gluten-free and a dairy-free diet has helped some with an autism spectrum disorder.  So brought all pasta and bread to the food shelter.  We threw out all dairy yogurt, cheese, replaced the milk with almond milk.  In addition all fake dyes in any food or carmel color was on the toxic list and not let into the house.  The effects where fast.  By Christmas we went to a friend's house for a party, TsukiMoon engaged in a long conversation with the mother, something that he had never done before in his life--an adult, who he considered a stranger (all adults who are not us or his teachers are strangers).  No way it would have never happened.  After that he started to engage with people we would meet at Starbucks and share with them what we were up to that day.  So much better then being afraid of everyone and hiding under tables.  The more pure the food the better TsukiMoon does.

I would like if TsukiMoon ate a paleo diet (also know as the cave-man diet; fruits, veggies, meat, nuts) because I believe grains, even gluten-free ones have an ill effect.  This is based on my reaction to grain and that I have many of the same issues of TsukiMoon around anxiety which are heightened with starches.  Being grain-free helps me regulate my emotions and to better focus.  If only TsukiMoon ate something other then carrots and apples for a vegetable or fruit.

Over the past year we have been faithful to the no gluten, no dairy with only somethings slipping through at birthday parties or peoples houses.  TsukiMoon is a different person.  He regularly talks with people, has friends, and is even-keeled.  We went to Germany and Denmark this summer.  It was too hard to maintain gluten and dairy-free, so TsukiMoon got to eat anything he like.  His actions were good for most of the trip.  I believe that he has, through this food plan has been allowed to create new behaviors, new ways of being and acting so the week and half in Europe didn't derail his new habits.

This year we participated in Halloween this year, 2014.  We went out with friends.  TsukiMoon ran from house to house up by himself or with friends.  He worked out with his friends a rotation for who got to ring the bell next, he thanked everyone he got candy from-- all new skills.  

There was some complaining before the 31st of October because he wanted to keep the candy that he collected.  I listened to his concerns and confirmed his sadness.  Mr. TsukiMoon took away the candy during the night and told TsukiMoon in the morning.  There was grief about not having any.  He looked over the house for it.  We bought him some new models for his war game, Warhammer 40K.  This seemed to help, there was still sadness, but he could talk about it and that was great.