Risperdal and teen age ASD boys

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I have a 17 year old son that has meltdowns where he injures himself. He is so angry and has recently brought up ALL the horrible childhood memories of rejection by peers and lack of understanding him by my husband and I. Due to this he has been diagnosed as psychotic and will soon be medicated with Risperdal. Does anyone relate? (parents or people with ASD)

Hello, I don't know anything about Risperdal, except that's its a non-typical antipsychotic drug. Maybe it's worth a try, at least for awhile, if only to see if HE feels better and more relief from his feelings. I'm a 41-year-old female with AS, just diagnosed last year. I've lived with his same feelings of differentness and social exclusion all my life, and those expressions of despair he's lately been exhibiting sound pretty much par for the course for any young person (male or female) with an ASD. I personally find it shocking that this type of clearly sane reaction to his situation would be labed "psychotic." Sadly, the "higher" we are able to function, the more we're able to see how different we are from others, so to me he actually sounds too "sane" for his own (or your) emotional comfort and physical safety! As I said, I know nothing about this type of drug. As long as it's not dangerous, maybe give it a try to see if it helps him get through the school day, interactions with peers, etc. I'm assuming you're doing all you can to get him the academic and psychological support he needs, but if you by chance haven't gotten him into counseling (with someone who's a bona-fide genius with Aspergers!!), then please give that serious consideration. In counseling, we aspies must be approached in a completely different manner than an NT person. We must keep our focus on facts, behaviours that need changing (ours and other people's), and education on how better to conduct ourselves with others and communicate to them more clearly our needs. He needs counseling that acknowledges and respects his emotional pain, but that keeps him firmly on track in actively dealing with his AS and the day-to-day challenges it causes. Prior to my diagnosis, I was in therapy with a well-meaning (but uninformed) therapist who unwittingly led me to blame my problems on my upbringing, and it did some serious (though thankfully not permanent) damage to my relationship with my father. So take care now to see that he gets help in understanding that you are doing your best as parents; that yes, peers can be cruel, but high school doesn't last forever:); and that he must learn to value himself as an individual and respect himself, his personal interests, and his feelings. If he works on these things, he'll grow stronger and as time passes, he won't feel so excluded from life. He needs to be told and shown that his differentness is ok, and so is the pain he feels because of it. That pain most likely won't last forever, believe it or not, if he learns to feel pride in himself. Sorry so long-winded, I just feel so much empathy with this young man (and with you, because now I understand so well what my father went through with me). Good luck.

Thank you so much for your insight. I know my son is not psychotic and you are right about the high functioning being a disadvantage. We have always celbrated his differences as it brings such an understanding any simplicity of the way things OUGHT to be. He is the most disciplined, interesting loyal person I know when he is not in turmoil.He has been seeing a psychologist but I do think he fails to touch the issues at hand with insight to his ASD. I will follow your advice and seek a ASD experts. Thank you for being there and shedding light on what is a difficult time right now.

I'm concerned that his current counseling may be hurting, rather than helping, his emotional state. ASDs are developmental delays, not emotional illnesses. Appropriate cognitive behavioral therapy should focus on actively teaching him that there are usually several different possibilities as to why a particular interpersonal encounter went badly. From there, he should be taught that there are also several different and more appropriate ways in which to react to these encounters. I still have trouble with "theory of mind," that is, being able to read other people's intentions, moods, body language, tone of voice, etc. Your son no doubt has the same problem, and believe me, it feels much worse at 17 than it does at 41!! It creates a constant social paranoia (no, nothing psychotic about it) because we just have no clue what others around us are feeling and thinking, especially about US! It's something that must always be worked at, but right now he must be educated out of having meltdowns in response to communication breakdowns or sensory overload. For most of us with ASDs, sitting in a room for an hour talking about our feelings when someone is rude to us is just a big fat waste of time and money! We need to be taught (and regularly reminded) that maybe, just maybe, that person wasn't rude to us...they were maybe busy, upset about something themselves, didn't see us standing there, etc.etc.etc. And slowly but surely, we start to calm down and lose some of our fear of other people, and then we begin to enjoy life. He'll get there, don't worry! But please find an excellent counselor who'll put the ASD first. Believe it or not, this issue at heart is one of education. Once we are taught, firmly and repetitively with patience, we can make amazing strides. Good luck to all of you.

it's a thin line you walk.....my son was what some docs labeled "psychotic" before he started taking anti-anxiety meds. the same docs did not believe he had aspergers ( they don't "believe" in it ). they insisted that he had to be : anti-social personality disorder, multiple personality disorder, ODD, and/or bipolar..............we were able to get him out of the hospital and away from the so-called "experts" by agreeing to keep him on the meds they put him on ( depakote). the depakote never worked....we were finally able to find a competent doc who listened when i said: " you know, i don't think the depakote's working & i don't think that son's really sleeping. .....is there something else we could try ?"
check out your son's sleep pattern...lack of sleep can make a sane person look CRAZY.
don't know much about risperdal...hope that things settle soon.

Hi, My son has been taking risperdal for 2 years. It has helped him control his anger, he is more relaxed and the meltdowns are still there but not as bad.He is 8 years old, it seems like the agression is a lit more lately he may need his meds adjusted now that he is older and his bodyweight has increased.

My oldestson was put on risperdal, tho they told me it was for sleeping problems. After 2 1/2 years I was told by his new doctor that it was an anti-psychotic drug used to treat aggressive behavior. (also used for sleep issues, but not long term). I had also talked to my pharmacist and she said it is best not used long term and 2 years is long term.

there are many avenues to treat aggressive behavior and maybe the answer is risperdal for awhile. however, with my youngest son who is ASD as well, we puthim on adderall which helped him focus in school, which made him feel more confident which in turn made him feel successful, which in turn made him less aggressive. SEE? Bottom line....you know your son best...find out what the root of the behavior is and go from there. If it doesn't feel right, it usually isn't.

good luck!! !

I'm 14 with aspergers and have been on Risperdal since I was 10. Apparently it makes a huge difference in my behaviour (although I notice no difference). I struggle with extreme rage and anger issues which is one of the reasons I'm on it, that and to help me concentrate at school. My mum says it works well, I however don't know. I've been on it that long I can't really remember what my behaviour was like before I went on it (I have a terrible memory).

My DS9 has been on Risperdal for 2.5 years. We initially tried it to reduce aggression, and because Intuniv was making him too spacey. The medication really made no difference in his aggressive outbursts at school -- those were solved by getting him out of public school and into a program specifically for kids with AS. However, we did see a huge benefit in a reduction in anxious perseveration. He used to get into these thought loops, "I can't have the computer, Mom won't let me have the computer, I'll never have the computer..." even if I gave in and gave him computer time he would still be stuck in the loop. I didn't realize how bad it was until it stopped happening after he started Risperdal. We did a trial of reducing his dose last summer, and immediately saw the perseveration come back. He has had no bad side effects -- actually it normalized his appetite, which was very low due to ADHD meds.

Risperdal is one drug I find really scary. There's a risk of Gynechomastia (development of breasts in males). Maybe it's not as much of a risk at 17, but I'm glad I was never on it for that reason.

My son was prescribed Risperdal at around age 5 to combat a biting compulsion that in hindsight was (and still is) triggered by sudden loud noises and frustration issues associated with being nonverbal. It would work satisfactorily for awhile then lose its effectiveness so the doctor would increase the dosage. After 18 months a blood test showed an increase in prolactin so we took him off it and put him of Abilify. It is less effective and requires a higher dose. He's been on Abilify for 4 years and is extremely excitable and scattered on it with many odd movements that may or may not be associated with the medication. I can't imagine what he would be like without being on these drugs now though and any desire by me to take him off it has been met with extreme resistance by nearly all of his therapists. It does nothing for his psychotic behavior though and while he's been on it he's banged his head frequently, gnashed at his wrists with his teeth, slept poorly, developed encopresis and even was put in an inpatient facility briefly (at age 7) to be "stabilized."

As somebody who's had experience with this family of drugs in a lower functioning child I would tell every parent who asks to avoid them altogether and find other methods to build structure into your child's life because the inability to adapt in our experience has been the root issue.