Anti-depressants for kids on the spectrum?

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Statto
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
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15 Sep 2014, 9:14 am

I'm in the UK and initially for one of my kids with anxiety and ASD that they'd only do talking therapy due to being just 12. It wasn't a surprise and as someone that rattles when they move I really don't want the kids taking medication unless 100% needed.

So after waiting for talking therapy for what seems to be forever after the first session with the clinical psychologist he's already raised it that he thinks some sort of medication for the anxiety may be needed. I was a bit surprised I must say, but the guy is very good. I know how to research and challenge medication choices due to my own circumstances so I'm not overly concerned at this stage. If he recommends a prescription I'll start researching and go from there. Fortunately our family doctor is also pretty good, which helps.



DW_a_mom
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15 Sep 2014, 1:00 pm

We have seen a lot of situations on these boards where medications created a whole host of new problems in children. Therefore, it really has to be a last resort, after nothing else has worked. Young children often fare well if you reduce their schedules to make them less overwhelming, build in more unscheduled time, watch for sensory sensitivities and limit sensory input accordingly, etc.

Medications can be life changing for children who really need them, so I will never give an absolute "no," but extreme caution is warranted and you have to see serious need, not just something that could maybe be improved.

I will also note that once on this class of medications, it seems to be very hard to go off of them. I take an anti-depressant and do and don't regret having started down that road. It got me through a difficult time, yes, but at what seems to be a high cost in the long term. I wish someone had pulled me through other options, first.

My children both went through periods we gave serious consideration to medication, but both times we found our way through without it, and I believe that result was much better for my kids, long run. My son had a lot of aggression and frustration and stress when he was 8-9-10, and my daughter seemed to have depression/possible bi-polar. Meeting with specialists and working with my kids on developing protocols to help them mitigate their own issues really worked for us.


_________________
Mom to an amazing young adult AS son, plus an also amazing non-AS daughter. Most likely part of the "Broader Autism Phenotype" (some traits).


Meistersinger
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17 Sep 2014, 8:45 pm

DW_a_mom wrote:
We have seen a lot of situations on these boards where medications created a whole host of new problems in children. Therefore, it really has to be a last resort, after nothing else has worked. Young children often fare well if you reduce their schedules to make them less overwhelming, build in more unscheduled time, watch for sensory sensitivities and limit sensory input accordingly, etc.

Medications can be life changing for children who really need them, so I will never give an absolute "no," but extreme caution is warranted and you have to see serious need, not just something that could maybe be improved.

I will also note that once on this class of medications, it seems to be very hard to go off of them. I take an anti-depressant and do and don't regret having started down that road. It got me through a difficult time, yes, but at what seems to be a high cost in the long term. I wish someone had pulled me through other options, first.

My children both went through periods we gave serious consideration to medication, but both times we found our way through without it, and I believe that result was much better for my kids, long run. My son had a lot of aggression and frustration and stress when he was 8-9-10, and my daughter seemed to have depression/possible bi-polar. Meeting with specialists and working with my kids on developing protocols to help them mitigate their own issues really worked for us.


The director of the local ecumenical choir is also the music director of one of 2 Protestant Episcopal churches here in York. He also teaches both piano and organ privately. He lost his best student, who was diagnosed with Aspergers, when the kids parents, as well as kid's psychiatrist, put him on medications, and the kid's behavior changed for the worse.

I don't know if anyone here watched Dr. Phil's show from this past Monday and Tuesday, but it concerned the mother in Michigan who attempted to kill her severely autistic and mostly nonverbal daughter and herself by locking themselves in the family van, rolling up all the windows, lighting several charcoal grilles, and waiting for carbon monoxide to do the deed. The daughter was becoming increasingly more violent toward her, her brother and sister, to the point she was causing bodily harm to herself, as well as them. This girl was booted out of several programs because of her violent outbursts, and that her parents insurance would no longer cover the child. While I think life imprisionment for 1 st degree child abuse may be a bit excessive for this woman, I totally get this woman's reasons for committing this act, especially when everyone and their brother were throwing roadblocks in front of them to keep this kid from receiving services she so desperately needed.

Frankly, I don't see how my youngest brother and his wife managed with their two youngest being low functioning and mostly non-verbal. Their son has been violent at times, to the point of putting his fists through doors, walls and windows, as well as regurgitating everything he eats. Their daughter hasen't shown any violent tendencies, yet.