April is Autism Awareness Month, which has a special place in the heart of Alison Patt, CEO and President of Thomas Cuisine. It also plays an important role in her passion around food and service, and how she came to join Thomas Cuisine in 2020. In a Thomas Cuisine meeting, Alison shared the positive impact that REAL food can have on managing autism symptoms and quality of life, through the story of her son, Joey.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it is estimated that 1 in 54 children in the United States has autism, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a developmental disability associated with differences in the brain. Many parents and caregivers of individuals with autism have found that a whole food diet can help alleviate some of the symptoms associated with the condition. Due to a variety of factors around food preference and texture aversions, research shows that those experiencing autism often have an increased risk for nutritional deficiencies, and those deficiencies can impact the individual’s ability to thrive.
Like most parents, Alison’s greatest desire was to see her little boy, Joey, experience feeling his best. After limited success with therapies, she took a chance on REAL food. With extra amounts of love, dedication, and patience, the Patt family explored different foods, textures, and presentations of meals and snacks featuring whole foods while reducing processed items. In time, Joey experienced true transformation. He began to play. He began to thrive.
Alison shares, “It didn’t come in the fashion of occupational therapy or speech therapy. It was good. We really found tremendous results when we started healing the gut. The other amazing thing is all the rest of us did too… we all had so much more energy and we were connecting as a family. I like to say, ‘Food gave me my family back.’”
Alison’s personal experience with REAL food is what also led her to Thomas Cuisine. The company’s mission stood out to her as something she wanted to be a part of.
She adds, “There was something so heart-connecting for me about our mission about REAL food when I had lived it out myself, when I had seen what it did to my family and children. I am just so delighted to be working at an organization, working for a board and a family, that gets it, and that really believes in that story of food transforming health.”
