"Medicine" for Autism

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I came across this article in my local paper and was confused by "medication for autism."

(I can't post a link yet - but if you go to the Chattanoogan newspaper, the title of the article is "Employee Reportedly Stealing Medicine from Dawn School Students.)

Are there really medications out there that "treat" autism? Am I missing something?

They can treat certain symptoms but there is no Autism panacea.

Lets be clear you can't treat autism with medications you can mask the so called "symptoms" that the curbies scream about but really all the drugs do is mess with brain chemistry a little they would have similar affects on NTs and others in the neurological diverse population. Also their is the little thing of they don't know what autism really is, truly they have more theories and opinions. than they do facts.

There is no official treatment for Aspergers nor Autism. But some people on the spectrum take SSRIs or anti-anxiety meds in hopes it will make them feel better or sometimes the parents give them this to keep them drugged up so they are quiet because they are always tired from the meds. Some take it in hopes it will change them in some way-placebo effect. Some may have other problems in addition to ASD and the medicine may help those other problems and make their lives easier.

http://chattanoogan.com/articles/article_144218.asp

It mentioned Metadate in the article, which is ADHD med, yes?

Just the "medication for autism" threw me (at the beginning.)

My son (who has AS) takes a small dosage of Adderall for ADD (he's not hyperactive, really, but the focus issues at school were greatly helped with the meds) but other than vitamins takes no other medications.

The OCD that the report mentioned - wouldn't some symptoms of AS also appear to be OCD?

Perhaps however their is a real difference between the focus of autistic people and OCD. So really doctors need to get their frakin heads out of their frakin butts already do their job or make room for those who are actually competent.

True. They're more numerous and less useful.

I did a quick google and it says that Metadate is like Ritalin.

Some of the parts of autism that can be helped with meds are:
*Speech/communication-can improve speech in some,or trigger it.
*Meltdowns-can calm them down,or lessen their length,can also stop meltdowns being aimed at others.
*Interaction-can give some interaction in those who don't interact or improve it.
*Changes-can lessen their effect.
*Senses-can numb senses.
*Can calm extreme behavior.

Autism and AS are both groups of difficulties and traits and meds can help parts,though as of now,they cannot alter the settings in the brain to be non autistic,whether the future changes that though.

To this I suggest my most recent blog here on WP.

KoR, I'd debate the idea that medication can help speech in autism, at least directly.

I can see that medication might help with concentration, like for ADHD; or might help with anxiety, as antidepressants and tranquilizers do; and either one of those could result in improved ability to speak.

I don't, however, think that there is any way to use medication to directly increase an autistic person's communication ability. You can only remove obstacles that stand in the way of using speech skills already acquired.

The only way to actually increase autistic person's speaking skills is to teach him, if he is ready to learn.

I take 3 different medications to help me with my Anxiety and OCD. I do truly have both of them along with my AS. My Paxil helps significantly with the OCD. Even 2 days off the pills, I start freaking out about the way my husband organizes things. (This is even if I don't realize I didn't take the medication, so doubtful that it's a placebo effect.) My Buspar helps with my general anxiety and panic disorder (Every day worry about everything I say and do... and panic attacks that seemingly have no causes). And then I've been trying different sleeping pills because the paxil and buspar keep me awake at night. (If I don't sleep at night, I get increased daily anxiety until I dissociate.)

Not really - on the surface they are sometime similarities in the symptoms, but on a closer look they are significant differences, even within the symptoms.

But I am wondering what medicament would help with OCD; this to my knowledge an acquired disorder which is treated with psychotherapy.

From my experience:

-Valium, or another "mild" CNS depressant can be good for "meltdowns"/sensory overload
-SSRIs are good for long standing anxiety and depression

The former treats primary symptoms, such as sensory overload/over-stimulation, but it's not something that can be taken chronically, and the latter treats the common secondary disorders that pop up.

Regarding SSRIs, I'm betting that it also helps with making us more social, as serotonin abnormalities were the first physiological sign in those with Autism. Elevated blood levels are reported in a large portion of individuals with such (children, IIRC), and this could be due to a lack of uptake within the brain, but I'm just speculating.

SSRIs are reported to also help with repetitive behaviours in individuals with Autism, as well as the obsessions in OCD.