This is a good question and there is no right answer to it, you know your child the best, IMHO gluten doesn't work for everyone, you have to be very careful with it, because you might deprive him things he needs in his development, we looked into gluten free, and we came to the same issue as you have, our son won't eat anything if we will put him on gluten free. For some it works, for others doesn't. It's not even proven the gluten has any negative effects on Autism either.

It is scary at first! I agree. My son only ate PBJ, waffles and goldfish. The truth is...after switching to gf/Cf diet his appetite broadened and he gained weight. But start by subbing simple things that he won't notice as much. Like Vanns GF waffles, Udis gf bread...Applegate chicken nuggets. Amy's GF/CF pizza. Yes it's processed junk but the goal is to get the gluten out as easy as possible. I first noticed huge poop changes! Looked diff n three days! Snacks...natural peanut butter with GF crackers...mandarin oranges. Strawberries and almonds (of course if he's not nut allergen). Organic raisins and cashews. For dinner stick to a meat and veggies...fresh organic. Sweet potatoes fresh...coconut oil and coconut usage for taste, fresh green beans, organic corn on the Cobb. Don't give up...give it 10-12 weeks! Start with subbing easy foods...eventually minimizing processed foods.

@A MyAutismTeam Member ..I certainly would not do gf/cf if it was not completely obvious how it affects his poop, his behavior, his vocal stimming and his repetitive Behaviors. If my son has ONE goldfish all his behavior and symptoms return for 10-14 days. I have journaled his food responses. And yes he tested negative for the food allergies of wheat and dairy. But thankfully because of MAT I followed advice of many Parents that saw a difference. I'm still missing something...not to "fix" my son but to help him. I need a bio-Med doctor to evaluate him. We have none near us. But just because there isn't "published" evidence based articles or studies doesn't mean anything to me. The FDA could care less about our health and what's causing autism or any other disease related to the pesticides, chemicals and improper farming techniques. It's all about money and greed. So if your waiting for published evidence....you may be eliminating some great things for your child....like progress and development. I'm not waiting around.

I hope it works out for you. But, in my own experience, my son did not take the to GF/CF diet. It changed absolutely nothing. Not to mention that he could tell the difference between GF breads and non GF breads. He really is very sensitive when it comes to taste, texture and smells. For example, his school is peanut butter free. I've tried slipping him Sunbutter, Almond Butter and soy butter and he noticed immediately, spit the food right onto the floor. Then complained it tasted funny, he did the same thing with the GF products.

My son is an extremely picky eater, has been his entire life. Wouldn't even eat any meat at all until he was about 4 1/2 years old, in fact.

I have him eat school lunch and breakfast, hoping that this would have been a great motivator in getting him to try new foods, but alas, it doesn't. Literally every single day his meals consist of the same exact 3 meals and 2 snacks.

Morning Snack before School: Yogurt drink
Breakfast: Bagel with butter, low-fat milk, and juice box.
Snack: Applesauce, Horizon Organics Vanilla milk, and fruit snacks (made at home like fruit leather, so 100% fruit)
Lunch: Yogurt cup, Cheese stick, Lettuce with tomatoes, low-fat milk and goldfish
Snack: Applesauce, Horizon Organics Vanilla milk, and fruit snacks
Dinner: Chicken Nuggets with tater tots, an egg, turkey bacon and cheese sandwich with tater tots, Italian Wedding Soup, simple hardshell tacos, or Mac & Cheese.
Snack: Blueberries and pretzels.

He will eat NOTHING else. But at least he eats. We cannot even make fish in our home. The smell makes him just insane. His diet is very restricted. We've tried repeatedly to introduce new foods and we get no where. We grow our own veggies and fruits most of the year, I was hoping that would be a motivator to try new things, he loves to garden but won't eat more than the tomatoes, blueberries and leafy greens. He's 6 now. But, again, at least he eats. There have been times where I have had to include Pediasure into his diet. But he also gets daily vitamins.

I would talk to his pediatrician before jumping right into a GF/CF diet. You can also have allergy testing done to see if he has allergies to casein and gluten before you do this, too.

GF/CF and dairy free is the best way I've found to go, my son is picky no matter what I try to feed him and being so delayed with many medical issues including severe chronic constipation just dairy free is proving beneficial. I've found you may want to start with dairy and after a couple of weeks add GF/CF foods gradually replacing one thing at a time. It will be a challenge because eating already is. You may find if your child likes waffles he will like gf waffles etc. most important is get rid of all processed foods, it may be easier to throw something in the microwave and heat it up but it's full of toxins and the worst thing you can feed your child, we went organic first, dairy free, .then gf/cf if it's too hard to do the GF/CF you might try the paleo diet with dairy free . You'll find fresh foods, garden fresh vegetables, grass fed antibiotic free meats etc, I hope this helps