It may be that autism has some kind of autoimmune component that impairs neurological function. But that is still different from an allergy.

I'm not clear regarding what you mean by "But that is still different from an allergy."

I was responding to this in the context of the food allergy discussion. But maybe you are changing to an entirely different topic related to autism?

Ah yes, I was diverging from the allergy discussion somewhat. Simply that people will speak about an allergy to certain things, which as you stated, aren't immunologically mediated but are rather, neurologically mediated. This of course triggered in my forever wandering brain, research I read recently on a correlative (not necessarily causative) link between the immune system and autism, a neurological disorder. The next few years will be an exciting time for neuro-immunologists.

As a side note, I googled antibodies to caffeine and it's actually an area of research. Apparently llama's produce a heat-stable antibody to caffeine which can be used to detect caffeine in coffee/tea.

Cathy A... I can't even get my in-laws to treat my son's or my allergies seriously! (fifteen years of watching everyone else eat Thanksgiving dinner!) We are allergic to wheat, corn, eggs, dairy, and soy. My son also appears to have a latex allergy. I've all but given up on complete strangers, or even people who should pay attention like school officials. Most glue, paint, tape, modeling clay (almost all art supplies!) have either wheat or corn in them, and I keep going round and round with school administrators and teachers about it. So I completely understand as well!

I've even gone round and round with doctors who tell me that true dairy allergy is very rare and that my other allergies to anything in the garlic family are just sensitivities. But I've learn that if I'm exposed to something and start to have a reaction, then taking Benadryl stops it immediately. It has to be an allergic reaction if an anti-histamine blocks it.

My point was that "gifted kids can be misdiagnosed because they have an allergic reaction that results in them being distractible, having high activity levels, showing temper tantrums, or being impulsive." I realize that this is in a different league from anaphylactic shock, but it may be a concern to others here. True allergic reactions can cause bizarre behaviors in some people. I witnessed this today in fact when my son came home from day camp with a rash across his face and in an extremely impulsive, aggressive mood. All from playing with play-do. An hour after taking benadryl, the rash was gone and he was back to his sweet little self.

And from the point of view of watching everything my DS8 (today is his birthday) eats and knowing that he can't eat at restaurants or treats at school (and cooking everything from scratch... try making a wheat-free, egg-free, dairy-free birthday cake that an eight year old will eat), then I feel your pain. Allergies just come in all shapes and sizes.

Oh, boy... I've had the same conversation with my DD's pediatrician. Even though her first bite of dairy containing food caused facial swelling, hives, screaming and vomiting (she was 5 months old) he told me that "true dairy allergies are very rare." And advised me to try feeding it to her again in a couple of weeks. Well, I was afraid to try! After seeing her claw at her gums until they bled, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I took her to an allergist for a second opinion. And yes, she tested positive for dairy, egg and peanut.

Ever since then, when a doctor tells me, "It's not X because X is very rare," I am immediately suspicious. It's really not a good argument for eliminating a diagnosis.

I get the same question all the time re: DS4's dairy allergy, "so, he's lactose intolerant?" At least when people ask, I have the chance to try to explain the difference between a true allergy and lactose intolerance.

Speaking of allergy, I had an interesting conversation with DS's pediatric allergist last week. I tried to discreetly get info about why HG children have high incidence of allergy (I wrote the question in a letter and asked her to email me), but she started talking about it anyway. So much for not using the "g" word in front of DS4!

I'm really going to be paraphrasing here, because DS4's asynchronous development was running high in the doc's office, but I tried to pay attention. So, she talked about how there's probably not a cause and effect situation re: allergy and giftedness, but rather how it's just one of many factors, and a combo of nature and nurture. She talked about how there is virtually no incidence of allergy in poor, underdeveloped countries (but they have other things to worry about, such as parasites, etc).

I also did a little PSA, and gave her the link to the SENG brochure (in spite of drawbacks mentioned on another post), because it does say what docs can do to help in identification. I said that it would be helpful if parents found out about giftedness issues before school, and pediatricians might be a good resource. I acknowledged that giftedness sometimes isn't the easiest thing to notice, since my 4-year-old was defintely in fine 4-year-old form that day!

But the most wonderful thing she said was that she thought gifted kids got short-changed in schools. Yay for DS4's doc!

Parasites aren't all bad!!! Parasites set up an immunosuppressive environment in the gut hence very low incidence of IBD, Crohn's disease and asthma in 3rd world countries. Also, our clean hygiene results in a relatively naive immune system which in it's quest to find antigens to react against, end up finding dust mites, food antigens to react against.

Perhaps the link is correlative ... parents with higher IQs, being more knowledgeable/persistent in good hygiene, pass this on to their kids hence an increase in asthma in this population.

I never forget the look on my friend's face when my baby's pacifier fell on the floor and I gave it back to him. She commented "you're not going to sterilize that?" I said, "No, that's what immune systems are for." Ha Ha Ha. Now, I should add that it was in my own house and he was over 6months old. When they are very little, I am more careful about what goes in their mouth.

He is adorable and its wonderful. He clearly plays to his audience and I love his facial expressions.

My guess is that when he tries to talk to his peers, like he does on this video, he gets a blank look back from them as if he is speaking Greek to them, which he is. So he does not play to that audience anymore.

In Fencing class, its something that he does that is on the same level of the others and hence he can relate with them.

His size may just be related to his intensity levels and his posture to the same reason.

What a happy, loving son!

Latest research shows allergies are caused by introducing solid foods too early. Our Ped. is adamant about this.

Since GT kids are advanced, it would be very easy to start giving them stuff too early.

Jr wants what we are eating and its hard not to give him some when he grabs the fork from our hands and ignores his spoon.