I would like to introduce Liz Lipski. She has a PhD in nutrition. She is the Director of Academic Development for Nutrition at Maryland University Integrative Health, and she is a bestselling author. We’re going to be talking about navigating through the specialized diets.
Welcome, Liz.
Liz: Hi, Kristin. Thanks so much for having me.
Kristin: Oh, I’m so excited to have you. You know when I met you several years ago, I was just in awe. I read some of your books, and I just felt like you got it, and you got it right. Not only did you get it but you explained it in a way like a mom like me could understand.
And so I am just so thrilled to have you on this summit. I’m just so thrilled for all those families that might not yet know about you to be able to hear about some of the experience and some of the tips and some of the things that we’re going to be talking about today. So, thank you so much for being here.
Liz: You’re welcome.
Kristin: So, what is your interest in autism? How does that even start?
Liz: You know, I think it started with my stepson who moved in with us when he was about 22 years old. I had been told he was very stubborn. And within the first couple weeks, I’m like, “He’s not stubborn. He’s learning disabled somehow.” And I didn’t really know much about high functioning autism. I certainly knew a fair amount about autism, but I didn’t really know about people with high functioning autism, and it became really apparent pretty quickly that he had a different way of learning and that nobody had ever really figured that out before.
So, it was fascinating to live with him. Somehow, I started teaching also for the Autism Research Institute and really loved being part of that community because there’s so much help that’s out there that parents don’t really know about. How do we help get that information out there? Which is what’s exciting about the summit.
Kristin: Absolutely. Now, what roles do you think nutrition plays with people that have that diagnosis of autism? I know we’re going to be talking about mitochondrial functions and things like that. What role does nutrition play with the digestive and the yeast issues that we’ve heard about and brain function and the leaky gut? The list goes on and on.