This week, I was able to interview a close friend of the family in an attempt to answer the research question “Can a gluten and casein-free (GFCF) diet really help to improve the symptoms of autism spectrum disorders?” Jenny, a mother of two, has had a lot of experience with the gluten-free diet, since both she and her daughter have tried it. Her daughter, who was diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder called PDD (Pervasive Developmental Disorder), was placed on the diet back in 2006 for six month period. While Jenny’s reasoning for being on the diet (which is related toCeliac disease ) is not totally relevant to my research question, I do feel that her own experience with it has also been helpful in answering some of my questions because she was able to give me information about the diet that her daughter (who was only about 2 years old at the time) was, of course, unable to disclose.
Though this was a rather lengthy interview which consisted of a great deal of information (explaining both the positives and negatives of a GFCF diet, which will be posted very soon), the outcome, in short, was that she did not see any significant improvements in her daughter’s symptoms of PDD. Jenny was not all that surprised by this, since she had previously been warned (by others who have tried the diet, as well as medical professionals) of the strong possibility that the diet would make no difference in her daughter’s symptoms. Though she had already been told that the diet was not a guarantee, she had also heard many success stories from other mothers who swore by it, as well as a few doctors, who had heard of quite a few people who had success with the diet.
I was extremely pleased with the information I was able to obtain from this interview, but I am also hoping to interview someone who has experienced success with this diet, in order to get both perspectives on it. As I have mentioned, Jenny has come across quite a few people who have had a great amount of success with it, so she is currently in the process of helping me get an interview with one of these mothers. I am only hoping that this will happen within the next few days
Though this was a rather lengthy interview which consisted of a great deal of information (explaining both the positives and negatives of a GFCF diet, which will be posted very soon), the outcome, in short, was that she did not see any significant improvements in her daughter’s symptoms of PDD. Jenny was not all that surprised by this, since she had previously been warned (by others who have tried the diet, as well as medical professionals) of the strong possibility that the diet would make no difference in her daughter’s symptoms. Though she had already been told that the diet was not a guarantee, she had also heard many success stories from other mothers who swore by it, as well as a few doctors, who had heard of quite a few people who had success with the diet.
I was extremely pleased with the information I was able to obtain from this interview, but I am also hoping to interview someone who has experienced success with this diet, in order to get both perspectives on it. As I have mentioned, Jenny has come across quite a few people who have had a great amount of success with it, so she is currently in the process of helping me get an interview with one of these mothers. I am only hoping that this will happen within the next few days
RSS Feed