An excerpt from “The Encyclopedia of Dietary Interventions”

Renee’s contributions to “The Encyclopedia of Dietary Interventions for the Treatment of Autism and Related Disorders” discuss how her dietary interventions in her young daughter’s life impacted her and the rest of her family’s health.

Published: June 23rd, 2008

“…While Dr. Semon says that while patients generally improve significantly on this diet, the addition of the anti-fungal drug nystatin is necessary in most.

‘When we discovered one of our children had [Autism Spectrum Disorder], it answered many of our questions regarding her behavior. Her list of physical symptoms went on forever.

We removed preservatives and hydrogenated oils from her diet. We replaced the ducts in our air conditioning and threw out all of our non-stick cookware. We avoided refined sugars and artificial coloring. I learned about gluten and casein. Then I found Feast Without Yeast at our local health food store and learned about Candida. We further restricted our daughter’s diet: gluten free, casein free, and yeast free, avoiding/limiting foods that may contain high levels of aspergillus. Within a few days we started to notice a difference. Within a few weeks it was incredible. Now the difference is profound.

A year ago our daughter couldn’t read two pages, and now she will read for hours. Her speech is improving rapidly, her vocabulary has quadrupled, and all physically painful symptoms were gone. Her hearing is perfect. People are able to engage her in conversations and she will initiate conversation as well. She is a bright, happy and focused child.

Out of support for her diet, the whole family participates, and subsequently feels better. Our youngest daughter’s asthma symptoms are much better and my own frequent headaches have disappeared. I understand not everyone will get these results, but I have to believe that if a drowning person is thrown a life preserver they would take it.’”