Effectiveness of treatment and age

Post Reply New Topic

My 14 year old daughter was diagnosed with AS this past January. Her therapist is not totally, but mostly clueless, regarding ASDs and seems to be focusing more on her co-morbid conditions (eating disorders, depression, etc) than on AS specifically. We live in an area with limited mental health resources (and providers) so working out treatment issues is taking some time. Today I was reading an ezine article in which the author stated "Treatments are less effective with each passing day as we grow older..." (Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2545166). Well, if this is true, I'm not making things happen fast enough. I'm not sure what to do.

Be careful what generalizations you make from internet sources. I was diagnosed in January also, but at age 52. It would have been far preferable to know when I was 14. There may be some truth in saying that had you known when she was 5 years old, you may have been able to do more for her. But there is a phrase, trite and cliched but true "If you met one autistic person you've met one autistic person". The point of this chestnut is that autism (Asperger's) has a very wide range of severity and symptom presentation. Each and everyone of us on the spectrum is different, sometimes profoundly so. You are very early in your process of learning about AS and it's treatment. There is a great deal that can be done to improve your daughter's outcomes. Just keep learning and adapting.

There's also a parenting forum where you can talk to other parents. You should also ask your daughter how she feels about the treatment that she's getting. If she wants to be treated, or accepted as she is. I wish you and your family the best of luck, whatever you decide to do.

I think getting help with things earlier is better.......I mean I have aspergers and I've had depression and anxiety ever since I was a young child. I did not know about any of that when I was a kid and by the time I was 15 I was just so frusterated about how no one seemed to understand and about the fact that I just did not feel good at all so I attempted suicide. even after that i found out I had just about all the signs of depression and some for anxiety(no aspergers), but even then the counselers I had seemed to think there was nothing really wrong and that it was just a phase I would grow out of or something so they gave me advice based on that. So yeah now Im 21 its to the point where therapy and such does not really seem to do a lot of good.......I feel like some damage that was done can't be undone and with the depression I am so used to how it feels Its become more then just some disorder its actually part of my personality now.

So yeah I don't have kids or anything, but based on how my childhood went I would say its best to treat things early, and also its important to make sure you get help from people that aren't going to just dismiss serious things as nothing more then a phase.

Like me, my youngest son has Asperger's. He is in elementary school. When he was diagnosed, the psychiatrist (a specialist in autism in children), said he did not recommend treatment for our son. He did however recommend our son get an IEP for school---which we did after the school's specialists assessed him with all sorts of tests. He now has an IEP in autism. But he takes no medications and goes through no therapy. But he is in speech class and does social stories work with the speech teacher. One of his main teachers has training in autism and enjoys working with him.

I want to add that besides the challenges of Asperger's, he doesn't seem to have co-morbids, whereas I suspect that I have OCD. I do also suspect that if he had issues with co-morbids like depression, then the psychiatrist may have recommended treatment.

Another phrase goes 'better late than never.'

If you can't find a specific ASD therapist then maybe you should look up ways to help your daughter on her own. Try to begin to understand her and work out what type of help she needs.
I was undiagnosed at 14, trying to make friends but content not to say much. Later on people would give me a hard time about not saying much. I was also in home school with a mother that had given up with teaching me. So I was at my wit's end. The next year I went to community college.

Now that I'm 25 and properly diagnosed and I don't receive much support except for pension payments, so I have to develop ways to better deal with things.

- I have to prepare for change because no matter how many times I tell my family they will not try to make this easier for me.

- I have to eat relatively healthy especially a diet high in vitamin K, E, B, not so much C because I have a bad reaction from it.

- I have to exercise regularly. I can only exercise on the weekends because my medication speeds my heart up too much.

Both eating right and exercising eases my symptoms.

- I have sensory sensitivity issues and still have poor social skills. I find at times I must avoid these things. I'm trying to be more social but I find it frustrates me more than anything. So I only can stand short exposure to such things. Even going to a supermarket can overload me. I still attempt it though.

So I don't know what issues your daughter has but I'm sure you can make her feel more comfortable if you work out ways to help her.

Sometimes I do feel if I was diagnosed and given support earlier I may have turned out differently. But I don't think the mid-teens is too late.

I agree that it's important to be cautious about internet sources, but have to admit it gave me a sick feeling that maybe I'm not doing enough, quickly enough. Just wish I had better guidance with this. It seems that the learning curve has been steep and that I've been pretty much on my own to figure this all out.

Thanks for taking the time to comment.





She doesn't like delving into the causes of her depression and eating disorder. The general social rejection she's experienced has caused her a lot of pain, so she isn't wanting treatment though she still goes without objection.

Neither of us know too much about the treatments available for AS, but she would like to learn to interact more effectively so she can attend college, work and live independently as an adult. I've been doing some reading, but the books have provided information that tends to be very general in nature. Some of the programs that have been suggested (i.e. social stories, etc.), I would have to pay for it on my own, and I don't know how age appropriate and useful they would actually be for her. I only want to spend money on what will be useful.




Thanks for saying that, I'll definitely show my daughter your post. She has days when she thinks she wants to quit therapy because she doesn't think it's helping (she's only been in for a few months). Even if she doesn't ever learn to deal with people in the social sphere, I want her to learn to appreciate herself for who she is and be happy.



We're working on that right now, though the school hasn't performed any assessments. I just hope I can do a competent job of getting my girl what she needs because, although the school system has been cooperative, it's been up to me alone to make sure she gets what she needs.




Thanks, you've given me a lot to think about.

She is already an avid exerciser, it's her special interest, but we'll need to explore diet as a treatment option as well. Do you know any good sources we could investigate?

If exercise is truly a special interest and not a manifestation of her eating disorder, then you might be able to connect the diet into the exercise as something that enhances the special interest. Proper diet allows more intense exercise and shorter recovery times. This would feed the special interest. Not having a proper diet hurts a good exercise program. So instead of encouraging her to eat better, encourage her to improve her exercise program by doing things like interval training, flexibility training and a diet designed for good metabolism, [performance improvement and recovery.

Talking therapies are going to have no effect whatsoever if she isn't going to engage in them. And I don't just mean turn up-I mean actually make herself be emotionally present and work on solving the problem. She is going to have to hit rock bottom and decide enough is enough for herself, then she might be able to engage on her own terms. I don't know how old she is but if she is teenage or older backing off completely and leaving her to her own devices might work better (for me this would have to be an all or nothing thing, even a little bit of interference would ruin the whole effect). It also won't work if it's the wrong technique or she has a poor relationship with the therapist, or it may just not work at all. The only thing you can really do are point her in the direction of options and then stay out of it.

It's never too late to learn. And that is all the 'treatment' for AS is - simply teaching Aspies the things we do not come preprogrammed with like the rest of the world. You can learn those things at any age although everyones capacity for how much they can learn may vary.

Many schools have programs for social skills for teens as well as outside community groups. It is not too late to request an evaluation from your school. Your daughter may still qualify for an IEP which will help her get classroom accomodations if she needs them. Your school district is required by law to perform the evaluation if you request it in writing and to provide the services she may need. If they tell you otherwise, there are advocates who can help you get what your child is entitled to by law.

Definitely take your concerns to the Parenting forum. There are lots of bulldog mom's there who can help guide you.