Julianne King wasn’t sure what to make of it when her son, who had been diagnosed with autism at age 3, began biting his hand at age 10.

“I didn’t know if it was just autism, because autism also includes self-injurious behavior in some kids,” said King, a Kai­lua resident. “And I didn’t know if it was his frustration or what it was.”

Like many autistic children, her son Beau had trouble communicating and couldn’t tell his parents how he was feeling or why. It took years to uncover the root cause, which turned out to be acid reflux and food allergies. Once those were treated, the biting stopped.

King, who volunteers as president of the Hawaii Autism Foundation, wants to spread the word that children with autism might have severe behavioral problems due to medical conditions that could be treated but go undetected.

Her nonprofit, with backing from the HMSA Foundation, is bringing a leading specialist, Dr. Timothy Buie of Harvard Medical School, to Hono­lulu to educate the public and medical professionals on the issue. An assistant professor of pediatrics, Buie is director of gastroenterology and nutrition at the Lurie Center for Autism at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Buie will give a free talk to the public and medical personnel at the University of Hawaii Medical School on Saturday in conjunction with Autism Awareness Month. He also will make a presentation to medical professionals at Kapiolani Medical Center on Thursday.

The events will shed light on behavior that could be linked to underlying medical conditions in autistic children and give tips to families and medical professionals on recognizing and handling those situations.

Buie estimated that 50 percent to 70 percent of autistic children have a history of gastrointestinal problems.

“These are not the kids who are going to complain,” he said in a phone interview. “They are going to have a behavior; they’re going to have something else going on.

“We’re going to show video examples of kids we’ve taken care of where acid reflux is the reason for the self-injury, where self-injury and aggressive behavior are coming from an allergic reaction in the GI tract. And when you intervene it’s really dramatic.”

About 1 in 68 children in the United States has autism spectrum disorder, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The developmental disability involves impairment in social interaction and communication, and behavioral challenges.

Repetitive behaviors are typical of people with autism, but in some cases the actions could be a way of saying “please look” or an effort to distract or soothe themselves, according to Buie. Kids might chew on something, or tap on their chin or their chest, press their stomachs against furniture, or swallow or snack nonstop.

“Very often we’ll see children whose collars are shredded because they will sit and chew on the collar of their shirt and drool constantly, as sort of a response to acid reflux,” Buie said. “We think even some kids who have pica behaviors, eating substances that are not food, they are doing anything that might help to buffer.”

While treating digestive problems does not cure autism, it can help remove some barriers to success, said Buie, who has treated patients from 40 states as well as other countries and has developed educational materials for physicians and parents.

Pediatricians are starting to recognize the issue and go through checklists to try to determine whether dental problems, migraines or gastrointestinal issues are triggering certain behaviors in people with autism, he said.

King is hopeful that others will learn from her son’s experience. Now 15, Beau still struggles with language but is thriving, growing

7 inches over the past year to reach nearly 6 feet, and loves bodysurfing and horseback riding.

“The sad thing is that for a few years all of his autism education specialists would just tell him, ‘Quiet hands,’ ‘Put your hands down,’” when he bit his hand, King recalled. “They would just try to redirect the behavior. But in fact it was a medical issue, and because of the communication issues with autism, he wasn’t able to say, ‘Mommy, my stomach hurts.’”

She feels for children whose behavior is so problematic that drastic measures are taken.

“It just breaks my heart when I hear about the severe kids and they are just put on antipsychotic medication when they really may just need a gastroenterologist,” she said. “There’s so much to autism; it’s never simple. But it’s simple to take a look at the medical issues first before you take those dramatic steps.”