Interesting excerpt from this article http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Developmental+disabilities+exacerbate+mental+illness/7545476/story.html
BRAIN-GASTROINTESTINAL LINK OFTEN OVERLOOKED, EXPERT SAYS
Everyone feels crummy when they have heartburn or constipation, but it can push someone with a severe developmental disability into a fit of anger, says Dr. Leslie Rubin, president of the Institute for the Study of Disadvantage and Disability in Atlanta, Ga.
These are both frequent problems among the general population and at least as common in people who can't communicate clearly.
"If they can't tell you, they are more likely to express their discomfort or pain in non-verbal ways. They'll just have an emotional reaction and sometimes the reaction is out of proportion to the situation," Rubin said in a recent telephone interview.
He will be a keynote speaker at a national conference on developmental disabilities and health in Vancouver Nov. 15-17.
When it comes to someone with a severe form of autism, for instance, their instinctive reaction to pain is flight, fright or fight.
"Many people with autism will be unhappy much more quickly. We have what I call a dimmer switch. Kids with autism only have an on or off switch. They get upset very quickly."
Rubin advises doctors to take the possibility of acid reflux or a stopped-up bowel into account, particularly when it comes to prescribing medication.
"We'll say they have a behaviour problem and put them on medication which can make constipation worse. Then they will have to take even more medication."
He is not a supporter of a growing trend among parents of children with autism to put their kids on a gluten-free, casein-free diet, so named for proteins found in wheat and milk.
Although there will be cases where a child has a real food sensitivity that can be helped with a change in diet, cutting out wheat and dairy products generally adds another expense and complexity to family life and, if the children are picky eaters, can cause
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