I am also an admirer of Temple Grandin, and it's funny: she has some serious problems with social interaction with humans, but good empathy for animals...

The juxtaposition between the two, however, is interesting, because I knew a woman who put her 8 year old son on a low carb diet for his autism, which improved to the point that he became a normal child. She always knew that when his autistic symptoms came back it was because he had sneaked candy or cake. Once he made the connection between what he ate & how he felt, he was much more compliant.

This is well documented as a "leaky gut" syndrome. But I just wonder...it may have something to do with other shyness syndromes? Some of us had trouble with weight & social interactions, because the eating pattern was causing both problems?

After all, there are plenty of assertive, strong minded, very social people who are also overweight. The social stigma is very strong for all.