His medical diagnosis included allergies, fatigue, severe expressive speech delay and pervasive developmental disorder. He appropriately had been receiving speech and occupational therapy. Often allergies are the link which connects behavior problems, developmental delays and recurrent infections. Allergies are much broader in scope, however, and are caused not only by inhalants but by the food we eat and the chemicals present in our air, food and water. Allergies can produce readily identifiable symptoms like hayfever and asthma, but their effect can also be more subtle as well.
Allergies can affect any part of the human body, but most importantly, the central nervous system.
The focus of initial allergy tests could include tests for pollens, molds and any food ingested twice per week on a regular basis. Under the controlled supervision of a family physician, a single food elimination diet is a simple approach which a parent can employ at home. Often a food which a child particularly craves is the one to which he is allergic. In a single food elimination diet, the craved food is eliminated from the child's diet for 10 days and then reintroduced. If symptoms arise, it is a good sign to parents that this food is causing the child's medical problems.