Both of my sons were diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and severe learning disabilities. No, they weren’t victims of the current tendency to diagnose the majority of active or misbehaving children with ADHD; my boys truly met the criteria and then some. But much to the dismay of the physician who diagnosed my eldest, I was unwilling to put a preschooler on Ritalin. Instead, though the doctor said I was wasting my time, I experimented with dietary management.
Two weeks later I visited the doctor and reported an amazing change in behavior. I also brought pictures my child had drawn—
pictures so advanced from the ones he had been able to draw during testing, they were irrefutable proof that the diet was working. But the doctor had no interest in being proven wrong. He had decided diet management didn’t work, and he wasn’t about to consider changing his mind.
Artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, and MSG had a dramatic effect on my child’s attention and behavior. I became one of those militant mommies who cleaned out her pantry and stopped buying packaged, processed food. I began cooking from scratch. I packed healthy lunches, and from preschool years through grammar school told all of the teachers not to feed my kids candy or junk. I never questioned the diet. My sons’ behavior validated the diet every time they ate anything forbidden!
I’ll never forget the day my husband took the boys to the movies and fed them “plain popcorn.” Soon after their return I heard a rhythmic thumping. I found my eldest bouncing on his bed, flying three feet into the air. But he wasn’t jumping. Like a scene from
The Exorcist, he was lying flat on his back and somehow propelling himself into the air! I called the theatre to find their plain popcorn
was dusted with a powdered flavor enhancer—a seasoning full of additives including yellow dye number 5, my son’s worst nemesis.
A few teachers who liked to reward kids with food were supportive, buying special treats for my boys or asking me to bring in acceptable handouts. A few didn’t believe in diet management. One teacher, in an attempt to prove to us wrong, bought our son school cafeteria lunches every day for more than a month. Not only did his behavior immediately deteriorate and continue to worsen, he learned how to lie. He became so unmanageable, I considered medication. And then the teacher began complaining about his behavior, through she was still feeding him cafeteria food!
Even knowing how important their diet restrictions were, I felt guilty when Halloween, Easter, or Christmas rolled around. Having been raised on Kool-Aid, Pixie Sticks, and Twinkies, I was filled with an unreasonable fear that I was denying my children a “normal” life. Initially all bets were off for those holidays and we all suffered the consequences: atrocious behavior for a week or more and often a cold or flu as well. Over time I realized if I filled Christmas stockings and Easter baskets with their favorite healthy foods, acceptable treats, and toys, the children were
