This is one of those books that is valuable for its practical, no-nonsense approach to the different facets of autism. It helps parents know their options as to treatment in therapy, diet, and medication, etc. It also gives a much-needed success story to lift parents' spirits when they are just recently adapting to the diagnosis of autism for their child.My only reason to give the book 4 stars is that I cannot relate to the concept of radical diets because my son has never shown the symptoms of toxicity or allergic reactions to foods. Although the author was very straightforward in admitting that a casein-free, gluten free diet may not help all autistic children, this is a very prevalent topic of discussion with parents of autistic children -- and my point of view is that there are quite a few children who are autistic without any external factors contributing to the autism (i.e. toxicity to wheat, or MMR shot problems).