My nearly six year old son was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of two, has learning difficulties with autistic traits. Are there are any links between autism and diabetes? Are you aware of any other children with both conditions? I would like to try some different diets to improve his behavior, but don’t know where to start because his diabetes is very well controlled, and I’m reluctant to put that at risk.

It’s not likely the autism is related to diabetes or vice versa, but the two together make for many more challenges, of course. You should discuss this directly with your son’s diabetes team and also with a pediatric diabetes dietitian as part of that team.

There are many diet variables that could be tried with diabetes for many different reasons. As long as you are consistent, you should be able to learn what needs to be done to counterbalance those diet changes you are contemplating — and keep glycemic control in check during the process. Doing lots of blood glucose readings(before and after meals) will allow you to be a good detective and learn what any changes do.

SB