Although written for children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or autism spectrum disorders (ASD), it can be helpful for any child with a variety of behavioral or developmental challenges. Because it may be easier to change the entire household’s diet at the same time, this book is also written for the families. Other family members are often surprised by improvements in their own health and behavior. You may wonder how this book is different from other elimination diet recipe books. We believe this book is different in several ways:

• When implementing a special diet, it is hard to take “on faith” that it may help. This book explains the reasons why diet changes may help your child’s brain and body function better.
• We recognize that it is much easier to recommend a specialized diet than to actually implement it. This book includes helpful suggestions on how to begin and how to maintain a specialized diet.
• We are aware that changing diets in children, especially children who are picky, can be a challenging undertaking. This book includes many helpful hints for dealing with the picky eater.
• Not everyone likes or has time to cook. We have included “Quick N Easy” versions of recipes for parents on the go. For those who prefer more complex recipes, we have included those as well.
• Children with ASD often have additional challenges, in both behavior and biochemistry, which can make feeding an even more difficult task. This book includes ways to hide or disguise nutritious and healthy foods in ways children will accept.
• Many books about specialized diets focus only on the elimination of gluten and casein. There are subsets of children who may also react to other common offending foods such as soy, egg, corn, and nuts; yeast-promoting foods; and food components such as phenols (including salicylates), double sugars (disaccharides), and oxalates. This book includes recipes that are free of multiple offending foods.
• This edition includes more of the diets currently being used for children with autism, ADHD, and other challenges. It also includes new recipes or modifications to previous recipes, appropriate to the additional diets.
• This book focuses not only on what is being taken out of a diet, but also on what is put back in. The goal of elimination diets is not just removing unhealthy or potentially harmful foods, but also providing nutritious, appealing foods in their place.