DARTMOUTH — Cheryl Gaudino wants
what every mother wants for her
child, but for her, it’s more
difficult. Her 13-year-old son
Ryan was diagnosed with autism
at age 3.
“I want my son to be productive
and to enjoy his life,” said
Gaudino, treasurer of the board
of directors of the Gottschall
Autism Center.
Autism is a developmental
disorder that can affect
communication and social
interaction. Symptoms may
include repetitive behaviors,
little or no eye contact with
others, a lack of interest in
playing or making friends,
fixation on certain objects, and
a delay in or lack of speaking,
according to the Autism Society.
But the causes of autism are
poorly understood, leaving many
unanswered questions for
families dealing with the
disorder.
“You become a detective,”
Gaudino said.
She and a group of parents
have been working for the past
two years to establish a
brick-and-mortar Gottschall
Autism Center somewhere in
southeastern Massachusetts. The
group currently meets with
parents of autistic children,
offering help and support, but
is trying to do much more.
The group envisions a center
where parents could learn about
autism and how to treat it,
where conferences could be held,
and where autistic children
could get job training and learn
about daily living. It would
also offer campus housing on an
organic farm where autistic
children could learn about
healthy eating.
“We’re hoping to become a
national model,” Gaudino said.
Gaudino and a growing number of
parents and caregivers in the
autism community are learning
more about the role food plays
in autism. More than 50 percent
of children with autism have
gastrointestinal symptoms and
allergies. They’re using the
specific carbohydrate diet,
which they say has helped their
children tremendously.
The diet isn't low in carbs but
restricts the proteins gluten
and casein. Gluten is found in
all wheat, rye, barley and some
oat products, while casein is
found in dairy products. The two
proteins have been found to
“drug” autistic children like a
“morphine drip,” acting as
opiates would in the system.
Gaudino can attest to these
findings with her own son,
though the diet is not yet a
recognized medical treatment for
autistic children.
“He’s been on the diet since
diagnosis,” she said.
Before Ryan was diagnosed, he
went from being a healthy
toddler who was walking and
talking to a child that could do
neither. He was sick, had
constant diarrhea and basically
stopped developing.
Gaudino said his problems
started after he received his
vaccinations and had to undergo
several courses of antibiotics.
He had a fever of 107 degrees.
“It was horrific,” Gaudino said.
“We almost lost him.”
Ryan began the specific
carbohydrate diet, which
substitutes ingredients like
white flour and sugar for almond
flour and honey, and regained
much of what he lost. The
diarrhea stopped and he was
potty trained within a month.
On Friday, Gaudino and other
members of Gottschall presented
“When the Belly is the Beast:
How Intestinal Health Impacts
Brain and Behavior,” at Rachel’s
Lakeside on Route 6. It featured
lectures and a luncheon of
specific carbohydrate foods.
Pamela Ferro, president of
Gottschall and co-founder of
Hopewell Autism Associates in
Mattapoisett, offered hope to
the crowded room of attendees in
her lecture about the specific
carbohydrate diet.
“There have been more treatments
in the past three years than in
the past three decades,” Ferro
said.
She said there is a
brain-stomach connection at work
that is making autistic children
sick and exacerbating their
symptoms. She celebrated the
emergence of “strong, scientific
support” to back those beliefs.
Children with autism cannot
break down certain foods, which
leads to malnutrition and the
inability to absorb nutrients.
Processed foods like snack
cakes, cereals, potato chips,
and other ready-made foods are
not digested and cause
gastrointestinal toxins that
affect the body and the brain.
Ferro, the mother of an
18-year-old autistic child, said
the diet has made a huge
difference in her son’s life.
“We know that what we eat can
affect our health,” Ferro said.
Attendees were given recipes and
a cooking video about the
specific carbohydrate diet.
The rate of autism diagnosis has
grown from one in 100,000
children about a decade ago to
one in about 100 today. More
boys are afflicted than girls.
Some parents and physicians of
autistic children attribute this
to the growing number of toxins
ingested today. Some also
suspect certain vaccinations can
contribute to autism.
The Gottschall Autism Center is
named for the late Elaine
Gottschall, who worked with
people suffering from digestive
diseases. For more details,
visit www.gottschallcenter.com,
call Ferro at 508-941-4791 or
phone Gaudino at 774-282-0293.
The group is currently accepting
donations at P.O. Box 979,
Mattapoisett, MA, 02739. They
are also looking for a land
donation to build the center.
