Jenny McCarthy's Son on 20/20

RE: Gluten Casein Free Diets for Autism

The gluten-casein free diet(DAN protocol) along with supplements and chelation has been a great success for my family. My son,10, had never been able to imitate a single vowel sound despite years of therapy.  However, when he was eight we attempted the diet and supplements  and for the first time in his life my son was able to imitate sounds. It came in subbtle baby steps vowel sounds first then consonant vowel combinations,single words,and now 1-3 word phrases.He is still struggling to move from imitating to spontaneous speaking but what a difference. He also inturn has much better eating habbits than he used to. The diet definately helped him but it did not automatically give him the skills. What I am trying to say is that "yes, the diet will heal his body but there is still much work to do". Once his body is working the way it should he is ready to learn,he can only learn if he is taught."

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Jenny McCarthy was on the news again because of Wednesday's inaugural International Autism Awareness Day.  Due to her public visibility and “illustrious career” she was the most outspoken parent to voice her frustrations. On CNN's "Larry King Live," she talked about the struggles, joys and recent breakthroughs she has experienced in raising her autistic son, Evan. His condition, she believes, continues to improve with consistent one-on-one treatment and meticulous monitoring of Evan's diet.

"We believe what helped Evan recover was starting a gluten-free, casein-free diet, vitamin supplementation, detox of metals, and anti-fungals for yeast overgrowth that plagued his intestines," Jenny said. "Once Evan's neurological function was recovered through these medical treatments, speech therapy and applied behavior analysis helped him quickly learn the skills he could not learn while he was frozen in autism."

She seems to hold onto an idealistic idea that autism is a preventable, treatable and curable condition.  This idea is optimistic and even plausible. But most parents cannot afford the luxuries of a famous actress and are faced by other impeding factors that stand in the way of this "reality".