Real Feras About Medication And Autism

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I asked this question in the wrong section and I was told I mights get a better response here. My brother is about to start medication for anxiety and behavioural problems. this scares me because of the frightening side affects that most medication have. is it posible that the negative side affect of medication will slow my brothers social and emotional development and learning...what fear do you have about medication and your autistic child? Thank you...

My son has both AS and ADHD, and takes medication that helps with the ADHD symptoms -- improving attention and reducing impulsivity. Although these medications are admittedly different from those used to treat anxiety, we have seen real benefit to his communication and ability to learn. Before starting meds, we were looking into a speech program that cost thousands of dollars (and was only partially covered by insurance) to teach him how to have a back and forth conversation (staying on topic, responding to the other person, etc.) Talking to him was like talking to a CD player set to random skip. Within a couple months of starting meds, those problems went away virtually overnight -- it seems he just needed to be able to pay attention in order to learn to have a conversation.

For the most part, DS has had very little in the way of side effects. There was one med that when the dose was too high, he became sluggish and spacey, losing the twinkle in his eye. After a month we said this was unacceptable and the doctor changed the dose and tried something else. No lasting harm done. With a good doctor and watchful, conscientious parents, you can make good judgements about whether the meds are working and make changes if there are side effects.

Some families have found medicating anxiety to be a necessity. Think of it this way: if the anxiety can be very debiliating, the anxiety itself may be a much bigger roadblock than any potential side effects. While some people do have adverse side effects, hopefully your parents and your brother's doctor will watch for these carefully. The side effects I've heard the most are behavior issues getting worse, depression, weight changes, haziness. Some of that can fall into a vicious cycle if no one picks up on it being the medication, and starts to think more medication is needed instead of less or different. You keep an eye on them, and adjust immediately when necessary.

I don't feel, however, that medication is the answer for behavior problems. Behavior problems are a sympton of something else being wrong, and if you don't know what that underlying issue is, you are not actually solving anything, and possibly preventing finding a better solution. Sometimes families just can't get inside the problems, and the problems are interferring with the child's life so much that they feel they have no other choice, but in that situation medication really should be a last resort option. Remember, also, that some behaviors labled "problems" are actually self-calming and necessary to the autist, so one has to think hard about if what they want to improve, really should be improved.