Behavioural Management of Autistic Children through Dietary Intervention

Abstract

Autism is a pervasive developmental disability increasing in epidemic proportion among the children with a male predominance characterized by impairments in socialization, communication and imagination. These children exhibit classical atypical behaviours that are difficult to manage. This study was undertaken to assess the impact of dietary intervention on behavioural change in the autistic children. A group of 60 autistic children (5-16 yrs) were divided into three groups of 20 children each. Children in the experimental group I were administered the specially developed biscuits (50g), experimental group II received the same biscuits (50g) with added probiotic for a period of six months while the control group did not receive any food supplement. All the children received behaviour therapy as a routine school programme. The impact of intervention was evaluated in terms of their specific food behaviours and changes in their general behaviour under the five domains namely, sensory, relating, body/ object use, language and self-help. A significant improvement (p<0.05) was observed in both the experimental groups at the end of the intervention. The children receiving probiotic biscuits were found to be slightly better than those in the experimental group I in certain observations. Both the experimental groups showed a greater improvement than that of the control. The results of this study stress the need for dietary intervention for the autistic children for a positive behavioural change.