Effect of Therapeutic Diet Along with Special Physiotherapy Program on Gross Motor Development and Cognitive Function in Autistic Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience negative effects on their everyday activities due to cognitive and motor disabilities. Physiotherapy treatment plans aim to reduce body structure and function impairments, promote developmental sequence, and facilitate milestones, while gluten-free casein-free (GFCF) diets have been proven effective in improving autism symptoms. So, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a combined GFCF diet and neurodevelopmental (NDT) physical therapy program on the gross motor development and cognition of children with ASDs. Eighty children with ASD were distributed into four groups: A, for diet intervention; B, for physical therapy; C, for combined diet and physical therapy; and D was the control group. The evaluation was performed using gross motor functional measures and Stanford–Binet V5 before and after intervention. Intervention continued for 3 months for the children with ASD in the Jazan region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Group A showed non-significant change for both gross motor ( P = 0.89) and cognition ( P = 0.53) functions, Groups B and C revealed significant improvement for both gross motor [mean difference (MD) = −12.77, 14.61] and cognition (MD = −14.2, 14.55), respectively, with ( P = 0.001), and finally Group D showed no significant change for both gross motor ( P = 0.65) and cognition ( P = 0.16). Gross motor development and cognitive function of children with ASD significantly improved with the combination of the GFCF diet and NDT physical therapy program, with significant improvement with the NDT physical therapy alone on gross motor development and cognition, while using the GFCF diet alone had no change.