The Kid-Friendly ADHD & Autism Cookbook, 3rd edition

If you are the parent of a child with autism or ADHD, their struggles become your struggles, and they can easily feel overwhelming. I am eager to begin implementing some of the strategies and diets suggested in this cookbook to see if they can improve my son's ability to focus and reduce his impulsivity.

The first half of the book is very info-heavy.

First they explain what elimination diets are, and why they are useful. The different diets are addressed in separate chapters in great detail and with helpful charts to break it down for us non-medical-professional parents. It will take multiple readings to truly process all the information, though.

The recipes included in the second half are very helpfully labeled with symbols indicating which recipes work with which diets, and substitutions are often provided to help tailor recipes to your child's specific needs. My husband and I are already largely flour-free and sweetener-free (no sugar or sugar substitutes), so hopefully these recipes will help get our sons transitioned to a healthier diet as well, so that we can eat together as a family AND help our son with ADHD avoid foods that could be triggering heretofore unidentified sensitivities or intolerances.

This is a resource I'm sure I'll be revisitng again and again over the next several months.

Thank you to the pubisher and NetGalley for this free digital copy.

In the introduction, the author discusses how she at first could not see how foods affect behavior until she did research on it. She states that a 7 year old boy was very aggressive towards his father and his classmates - the parents stated that the child’s favorite foods were wheat and milk. The boy’s symptoms worsened at first due to withdrawal, then he changed to a happy, loving child who did well in school. But when he ate cake at a party, his symptoms returned until the gluten was flushed out of his system.
The terms ADHD and Autism are defined along with general behavioral characteristics of them both.
The differences between Food Allergies, Food Sensitivities and Food Intolerances are thoroughly discussed in the first chapter so that a parent or caretaker knows how certain foods affect the bodily function and behaviors of a child and what to look for. There are reactions that occur in many areas: skin, digestion, respiratory, immune, inflammatory, autoimmune, cardiovascular, neurological, psychological, behavior and development. It was interesting but distressing to read how caseins, gluten, and soy related products could cause a child to be socially withdrawn, have a high pain tolerance, zone out, and have tantrums or hunger strikes when dairy and wheat related foods are removed from the diet.
This is a very detailed book - it contains a lot of information about symptoms, types of food to avoid or eat, how foods affect behavior and health, and how to try the elimination of certain foods until you find what will work with your child.
There are recipes that contain foods that your child will be able to eat, and you can prepare them in bulk and freeze them.
This information can also be useful for adults as we need to adjust our diets also.
I suggest buying this book in an ebook format as you can adjust the type size, as it seems to be very small.

I think this is a great book. I do not have an autistic kid but I hope that I can offer suggestions to those around me that do. The first section of the book goes into information overload but I think it's important to have. I loved that the dietary guidelines were added as I need to see that reminder more often. I also enjoy the recipes given. I do wish there were more graphics. That's what typically entices me to buy a cookbook so this could be one of the downfalls here. Otherwise, I think it it's a good book to add to the shelf.

Once upon a time I had an older edition of this book at my home. I am not sure what happened to it, but I was definitely interested in this update. This version, the 3rd edition of The Kid-Friendly ADHD & Autism Cookbook is a plethora of great information. There are some wonderful break downs of the different diets that might help kids with these neurological differences. I am familiar with a few but not all of these diets so it was nice to have them all explained and how each might help or which one might be right for your kid or kids. I found that all of the recipes included were kid friendly enough to work for our family. I think this is a book that is worth having for any parent with a kid with adhd or autism.

As a mother of five who has a child allergic to gluten and another who was quite sensitive to food coloring and additives in childhood (and who completely eliminated my kids' environmental allergies and my own Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and daily migraines through transitioning to a whole foods, gluten free, organic and mostly vegetarian diet), I am quite familiar with special diets and how difficult it can be to not only learn them but to make healthy food for kids that follows these diets and is tasty for the kids. This book does an excellent job of not only explaining about various diets that can help kids with issues related to ADHD and autism (among others), but then providing simple, healthy recipes that work for them.

Diets included in the book include the Feingold diet (which my second oldest child was on for some time, with mixed but mostly positive results -- we moved on from it to instead just going all natural, mostly organic, and not avoiding the fruits and veggies it avoids), gluten free and casein free (which has been shown to be very effective for some kids on the autism spectrum, and which has been updated to also be soy free), the GAPS diet (extremely helpful in healing a lot of gut issues that can cause big issues with kids' health and behavior), and quite a few more.

The idea behind the book is not to follow all of these diets, but that it will provide you with recipes that work for whichever one(s) you're using in your family. It also gives you a description of each one, to see if there's one that might be a good fit for your child. Tips are provided to make it all easier on you and your child.

There are a lot of recipes in the book, and you should be able to find some for whatever diet you follow. Quite a few involve meat, but vegetarians and vegans should be able to find enough to work for their families. There are no photos (which makes sense since there are so many recipes and many are short -- and the book is over 350 pages as it is) but nutritional information is provided for each recipe. The authors even note when recipes are good for hiding supplements. Icons on each recipe make it simple to see what they contain and what diets they work for.

One thing I really appreciate about the book is the focus on providing recipes that are really healthy, and not just missing problematic ingredients. So many recipes that follow a certain diet like Feingold or gluten free are technically free of offending ingredients but are nutritionally bankrupt. I remember when I was new to Feingold many years ago I was on a message board for parents and they were all sharing recipes for "safe" meals that were mostly things like white noodles with butter and parmesan, or they would point out that brown sugar flavor Pop Tarts were "allowed" because none of the specific ingredients banned on Feingold were in those. I wanted to feed my kids healthy food and still follow the diet, which I had to do by creating it all on my own. So many gluten free recipes are the same -- nothing but refined starches and hardly any nutrients. Recipes here are tasty and free of offending foods, but the authors still worked to incorporate lots of fruits, veggies, protein and whole grains. The three-in-one cookies, for instance (adjust to make chocolate chip, peanut butter or sugar) contain sorghum flour and almond flour to up the protein and nutrition, while still having all the sweetness and flavor kids want in a cookie. Of course, there are also lots of recipes that are just for satisfying fun cravings. :)

It is so hard to be a kid with food allergies or a restricted diet. It is also so hard to be a parent trying to care for these kids, and to give them food that they enjoy so they don't have to feel so deprived. This is a great resource to help parents do that.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

Dear lord this is hugely complex. There's some good stuff in here but it is straining under the weight of all of the in-depth explanations and all the different diets. If you bought this for yourself as an autistic or ADHD having person, god help ya.

I was so excited when I saw the title of this cookbook. A family friend's child is autistic with ADHD and anxiety and I can't wait to share the love with them. Really looking forward to incorporating some of these recipes into everyday life. So much great research. Well done!

This book is titled Kid-Friendly but I would call it the definitive guide to ADHD & Autism. It’s all here, everything you need to know and more.
Yes, all the medical science is there but in a way that is easy to read and understand. Plus the recipes are normal and tasty and health for all the family. If you have a child or know an adult with ADHD or Autism buy this book it will help you understand and improve everyones welbeing.

This cookbook provides recipes for youth that have food issues and hypersensitivities "that stem from altered biochemistry and which may be causing problems in learning, behavior, development, attention, sensory responses, sleep, and digestion." There are also guidelines provided to help determine what will help their child. Information is even included about helping picky eaters too. There are helpful icons to help decide what recipe will meet needs. The authors have done their work to organize this cookbook very well and research the details to provide the best recipes. They even include references and resources. There are recipes that are gluten-free, Anti-inflammatory, Gut and Psychology Syndrome Diet (GAPS) and much more. These recipes are also something the entire family can enjoy. You will find recipes for breads, veggies, main dishes, shakes, desserts and many other things including snacks and school lunches. There are at least 150 recipes with a wonderful guide included in this cookbook. Maybe look over the recipes with your child as a way to help them decide what they want to try. Meal time and finding the right foods can be a real struggle. This cookbook is designed to help.

This book has so much information it almost feels like a nutrition text book but way friendlier to read. I just skimmed due to lack of time but I would really like to purchase this and sit down with a highlighter. I feel like there is a ton of great information and they cover it in a way that will be easy for pretty much anyone to read and use. The recipes are easy, accessible and sound pretty tasty.

The second half of the book has some great recipes that are easy to follow. I can see this being a valuable resource.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.