"The study found that autistic children are more likely to be constipated and picky about what they eat"... THAT does not warrant the conclusion of your title, "study raises doubt about link between autism and digestive problems". Being picky about what one eats is part of the larger picture of sensory issues that accompany autism, and should really be considered a neurological symptom, not a digestive symptom. However, as you note, autistic children ARE more likely to have constipation, which is expected given the documented serotonin disruptions in autistic children's brains. Another thing you do not mention is that children with severe constipation also become impacted fairly frequently, which leads to what appears to be chronic diarrhea. However, the conclusion you draw misses the point of the GFCF diet. Children are not placed on this diet primarily for GI issues, they are placed on the diet because of a hypothesized autoimmune response to the proteins in gluten and casein. Unfortunately, this is a very misleading article that supports an unfortuante medical establishment political agenda.

here! here! right on target H!

It is a poorly designed study. How is a child with autism who is non-verbal going to tell you they have acid reflux or bloating? The study is worthless.

Read this section from the article again, "they are not more likely than non-autistic children to have vomiting, bloating, reflux and diarrhea. Researchers followed 124 autistic children from birth to 18 and compared them to 242 kids without the disorder". OK, first, they studied twice as many "normal" kids as autistic kids. The sample groups should have been equitable. And while the article did state that kids with autism were more likely to have problems with constipation (could be IBS.. a digestive disorder, duh) they found no other correlation to other bowel disease. As a parent of a child on the Autism spectrum disorder, I can tell you he had horrible reflux, vomiting, diarrhea, and bloating, and so did many of his age peers in his school setting. Some parents chose to use restrictive diets, I did not. My son did not test positive for any specific food allergies. He is 23 now, and still lives with terrible bowel problems that his doctors have never been able to "solve". Yes, this test was poorly done. I have a M.Ed, and studied neurogastroenterology in autistic children. And while most autistic children do not have severe digestive disorders, for the 10% or so that do, they deserve to be treated with respect, and believed, instead of being blown off by the medical community. It's very sad. Not much has changed in the past 10-20 years.

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Read this section from the article again, "they are not more likely than non-autistic children to have vomiting, bloating, reflux and diarrhea. Researchers followed 124 autistic children from birth to 18 and compared them to 242 kids without the disorder". OK, first, they studied twice as many "normal" kids as autistic kids.