Posted by Caedmon on March 24, 2006, at 22:46:20
In reply to autistic kids and meds, posted by med_empowered on March 23, 2006, at 2:30:13
I haven't seen any of my autistic students develop TD, but then they are usually young so they may not have had the "chance" to. I know one little guy who was put on risperidone .25mg (that's all) and his scores on criterion-referenced problem-solving tests went up a lot. Before the AP, he was throwing almost hourly temper tantrums and would end up having to spend time in confinement until he could calm down. (They can be placed in a smallish padded cell of sorts for 10-15 minutes so that they don't harm themselves or others.)
With this same student, relationship development intervention (RDI) in social reciprocity and communication has further increased his ability to function. It works very well.
Overall, the kids I've seen have benefitted from the medications they've been given, but I am sure that abuses do occur and any time you're giving meds to kids you ought to be extra vigilant.
I have seen low-dose SSRIs (usually Prozac) and Risperdal do the most good. But I don't see a *lot* of students, my n= 20 or so. Different parents swear by different things.
Medications are poor substitutes for quality parents, teachers, and therapists.
poster:Caedmon
thread:621882
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060322/msgs/624345.html