Can Undiagnosed Celiac Cause Learning Disability?

[Sharon C.]

Hi-

My son has had an IQ test that said he was average and a little above average in certain areas, but his reading was low. According to the test, he should not have trouble grasping things in school, but he does. He is just now being diagnosed with Celiac, and is scheduled for an Endo for next week.

He is very thin, has had slow bone growth, and had difficulty paying attention and retaining things he learns in school. How many of your children also seem to have difficulty? Can it be because of lost nutrition? Thanks.

[Mom22]

Hi Sharon!

Our son is 9 and diagnosed in March this year and has been gluten free ever since. We had him tested when he was 5 for IQ and also was average to above average. At the beginning of third grade (prior to celiac diagnosis), he had difficulty with reading and needed some extra assistance in school for 2 months and then was doing fine. We believe it was due to his summer vacation and lack of reading during that time. From the time he went gluten-free through the end of third grade, he brought home perfect report cards! He is now in fourth grade and my husband and I are just amazed at how well he is doing and, of course, our son is thrilled. He is the best speller in his classroom. I think once children are on a gluten-free diet, they feel so much better that they can concentrate more and excel in their studies. If you are concerned about your son's reading abilities, you have every right to request the school district have the school psychologist test him for reading. We did the same the beginning of 3rd grade and it was concluded he was reading on grade level. You may see a big improvement once he goes gluten-free. We saw a big change in about 3 week after changing his diet and his moodiness totally went away. If you believe he still has an attention difficulty you may want to further test for ADD. Good luck~ Mom 2 2

[gf4life]

My oldest boy (5th grade) has problems with concentration in school. It has gotten much better since going gluten-free in April of this year, but it is not great yet. I don't know if it will ever be great. I think part of it is nutritional and part of it is personality. When my son gets his work done he gets great grades, but he doesn't always get it all done. He works slowly and daydreams alot. He also talks to his friends when he should be working. His teacher and I are working on getting him to use his time better. He needs to be more organized and focused. I always know when he has gotten some gluten, since he gets very moody and he can't concentrate on anything. These are his main symptoms, with very occasional diarrhea and stomachache.

Last year, after about a month gluten-free, his teacher commented to me on how much more he was getting done in the calssroom and how much more focused he was. I really appreciated her telling me this, because it helped me to know the diet was working for him!

God bless,

Mariann

[3boyzmom]

Here's an interesting article on the subject:

https://www.celiac.com/st_prod.html?p_prodi...-52104495568.77

Priscilla

[Mom22]

Thanks for posting the link to the article. I found it very interesting. P.S. I love your blurb from Phyllis Diller!

Mom 2 2

[FreyaUSA]

An interesting article, but I really can't agree with this and it seems much of what he asserts comes with the acceptance of this as truth:

Our cultural obeisance to grains is at odds with the remains of ancient humans. Archaeologists have long recognized that grains are a starvation food