In May of 1976 the Feingold Association of the United States was established. The majority of members are parents of children with behavioral or learning problems. These include ADD, ADHD and PDD. The program is suitable for infants, preshoolers, school-aged children, adolescents and adults.

Improved behavior can be observed anywhere from one to six weeks when starting the Feingold Diet. Six months to a year's time for noting major academic improvement. If the child is also on behavior modifying drugs it will take longer to notice improvement.

The Feingold Diet has two stages. Stage one starts by eliminating artifical colors and flavors, aspartame, natural salicylates and three preservatives, as well as medications and aspirin. This stage should be for 4-6 weeks before moving on to Stage two.

Stage two you begin adding back salicylates one at a time to test them and observe for health, behavior and attitude changes. The Feingold Program also covers non food items like health and beauty items, cleaning products, household products, vitamins, laundry care products, colognes and candles.

The first step is to visit either www.feingold.org or www.ADHDdiet.com and order the Feingold Program. The cost to join is $69.00 plus $13.50 shipping and handling. I ordered mine on 3-3-06 and received my materials on 3-14-06. You receive immediately via an email the codes to access the message board for members to gain support from other families already in the process.

Each month you receive via mail the FAUS newsletter known as Pure Facts. This will include product alerts for both stages and what to add or remove from your food list and shopping guide that comes with the membership. The lists are arranged according to the brand name of the product.

The newsletter will include relative news stories, product reviews, sample menu planning, recipes, seminar information, research and member issues. The foodlist is updated ten times per year. The service is only for products in the United States and Canada.

Members receive a spiral bound notebook that contains 108 pages. The table of contents is two pages covering reactions, symptom checklist, eating out, planning for a hospital stay, preparing the kitchen, be wary of hidden ingredients, eliminating gluten, casein & sulfur, menu plans, substitute ingredients, two-week menu plan and shopping lists.

There is information about birthday parties, what to look for outside during each season, remodeling and redecorating tips, holidays, emergency care and vacations. Also included with the Feingold Program is a smaller sized spiral notebook that is the Foodlist and Shopping Guide. This book has 165 pages.

The table of contents is listed for both Stages and covers food and nonfood items by categories like Breads & Mixes, Sour Cream, Meat Substitutes, Poultry, pasta, sauces, miscellaneous snacks, vegetables, facial care, shaving aids, orange juice & combinations, sports drinks, cold cereals and barbecue sauces.

There is also a white folder with the membership that contains a few issues of Pure Facts Newsletters, the password and code for the current month, a supplement guide, a fast food and restaurant guide and a mail order packet that has pages of mail order companies and their addresses with the products listed by brand.

The fast food guide is updated yearly. A yearly subscription to Pure Facts is $38.00. A subscription renewal and foodlist is $48.00. You can also purchase the book, Why Can't My Child Behave for $22.00. There is also a yahoo group for those on the Feingold Diet and those that are considering implementing the Program.

Gluten Free Food Items I have reviewed

As a side note - I found out this week that Trader Joe's has discontinued the Drop 'n' Drink vitamins. This contained 20 quick dissolving tablets that I used inside the soymilk carton for my son Matthew. I am now searching vitamin stores trying to find a substitute - please let me know if you know of anything similar.

I have both these books about the Feingold Diet and hope to start implementing it at some point in time... Summer looks like a good time frame when school is out and parents can observe behavior and plan menus accordingly.

Educational Autism Tips for Families 71 page resourceful ebook for families entering the school system with a recent autism diagnosis. Find out what issues take place over the course of a school day and meet these challenges head on.