"Treatment" for Asperger's

Post Reply New Topic

I'm more thinking of my daughter (4yrs old), as Popeye says "I yam what I yam", but as she starts into school we have a feeling they are going to want to medicate her. The schools seem to just want to put everyone with Asperger's on meds automatically, whether their behavior is a problem or not. I think that gets into changing who she is.
Not that I believe in evolution, but what if Asperger's is actually the next evolutionary step for humans? Homo-Aspergiens? All of this medication and behavior modification could be interrupting the natural selection process. I'm just rying to figure out where you draw the line between helping and forcing to conform.

I voted "only in extreme circumstances." I am not in favor of medication in general, and certainly not when it's to suppress who someone is (as opposed to right a chemical imbalance that impairs their ability to function in ways they want to be able to function).

As for your evolutionary comment, I'd say Apsergians are unlikely to be a successful permanent mutation, because we don't procreate (in general) in numbers as high as in the general NT population. And "next evolutionary step" is perhaps misleading; evolution doesn't have a plan in mind, so even if we were the "next evolutionary step," it would only be because our genes happened to be more successfully propagated to next generations than non-Asperger genes. It wouldn't mean we were somehow more fit or a better version of human being .

I answered NEVER. Medication for specific problems that may or may not have arisen because of Asperger's is one thing, but to medicate just for having AS and for the purpose of eliminating AS is wrong, wrong, wrong.

Never mind the evoloution thing. If you go with the theory that AS is a pesonality difference rather than disorder, then to medicate it in an attempt to eliminate it is pretty much going down the ethnic cleansing route.

Even if you were to accept that Asperger's is a disorder that should be cured, there is no medication out there that has been specifically licenced for treatment of AS. They're playing medicine cabinet russian roulette.

No child of mine will be medicated just for being different to the accepted norm, I feel very strongly about that.

Problems should be solved, but differences should be embraced. I would err on the side of caution and catergorise AS as a difference.

I wonder if in years to come, people will look back at attempts to cure AS and ponder how people could be so stupid and barbaric.

What is the rationale of the school to suggest that an individual with AS needs medication? Possibly, if a student has a co-existing condition (ie, ADHD) then one might recommend medication but it would be a stretch to correlate such specifically to AS. Incidently, and I ask only of curiousity: your 4 year old has been diagnosed with AS?

As you mention, it is so important to preserve the individuality of your child.

I feel that medication shold be used as a last resort, usually for the comfort of the student.

A classroom full of noisy, smelly (not meant to be derogitory, even the smell of some soaps, perfumes, and laundry detergents can be overwhelming) people, flickering flourescent lights, and brightly colored decorations can become overwhelming. School adds the additional stress of not being able to withdraw from the overwheming stimulus, so I can see where medication may ease the student's discomfort. But it should never be "automatic".

Who voted always???

Yes, my daughter has been officially diagnosed. We are concerned because we can't offhand think of any other Aspie kids that aren't on medication and everyone around here seems to think that its just a matter of course. We want to teach her to handle the stress of the classroom, the smells sights and sounds, without medication. But when we share our concerns and ask for tips from other parents they just say "Oh don't worry about that, she'll be fine once she's on medication."
She'll be starting to a private school in the fall (paid for by my folks, I'm still wondering what the catch is), so I suppose they can tell us to medicate her or hit the road if they want in which case we'll home school. The local public school has already indicated they don't want to deal with her (she placement tests to 2nd grade level).

Food for thought: maybe what the other parents think is their child being "fine on medication" is really just the child's inability to express his or her frustration anymore due to the medication's effects, rather than the child being any less stressed by the situation he or she is in. In which case medication might be much worse for the child, who is not only still freaked by noise, smells, etc. but now unable to communicate it at all.

Medication has it's benefits. I've been steadily medicated since I was 6, and very much appreciate that I was, it changed my life. I remember thinking on the first day I took my meds, that I could *finally* be good, and it seemed I hardly had to think about it! Medication, when used properly, does not supress a person's natural personality. Rather, they are able to be more like their natural personality. Medicating just for AS seems suspect to me, however I do think meds for some of the more extreme areas-like OCD behaviors, more extreme self harm, etc. are appropriate.
06xrs, My advice to you is to find a good independently employed(ie:not paid by public schools) therapist/psychologist and get their opinion. Maybe several. I don't trust public schools. They want to fit everyone in a tiny little box that most of us can't fit into, then underqualified people tell medical doctors(who have no idea about this kind of thing, understandably) what to prescribe and how much, so there are people coming out who call the meds the villain, not the schools. Meds are a tool. The fault belongs to those in control(public schools) </rant>

Understandably, I'm biased, but have you considered homeschooling her?

If you want info/advice on homeschooling(actually, unschooling might be the better option) feel free to ask/email/PM/IM me....it's one of my obsessions, plus I was homeschooled for a while, and I now homeschool two of my siblings

Fine on legal dope, eh! As if I'd believe in that.

To add to that, I'd like to remind you of a government propaganda commercial that was on TV quite a bit a couple of decades ago. It depicted a very plain-looking father figure wearing a t-shirt and trousers, and brandishing an egg: "This is your brains"

He would proceed to break the egg and drop it into a hot frying pan: "This is your brains on drugs"

As the camera zoomed on the hot pan, making that frying egg fill your screen, the man's voice boomed in a final Q: "Do you have any further questions?"

Talk about a double standard or what. The way the Rx Generation is upon us, I seriously question some of the medical practices the same powers that be are sanctioning.

The next thing you can do is read Guylaine Lanctot's book, The Medical Mafia. Ms Lanctot is a former medical practitioner who got fed up with what the health care industry really stood for and came forth to tell the truth about how things are done in the health care industry. The medical community even tried to sue her but they couldn't prove her wrong.

OTOH if you feel there is a bona fide need for any intervention by prescription, the least you can do is to go to the library and ask to see the compendium of pharmaceutical drugs, or you can Google the name of the med your doctor is proposing. That way you can familiarize yourself with it before deciding whether to take it. After all we all have the right to exercise our self-determination and that includes refusing to take a med that might not be ideal for the treatment.


06xrs,
It seems to me that if any school wants to put your daughter on something, they would be legally obliged to advise you. If all else fails, home-schooling could be the option to go for. Whatever you decide and whatever the outcome, all I can say is I wish you the best luck.