ok, well I do both. I do biomedical and regular medication. Sean was so unbelievably defiant, work avoidant and tempermental that I felt that I had no choice than to talk to my neuro about Risperdal I also talked to my DAN dr and they both felt that if Sean couldn't even sit through his trials at school and was not progressing that we had to at least try it. Well I tried Sean on the Risperdal and he was like a new little boy. Like he seemed to be level on the medication. He talks a lot more now, does wonderful in school and his meltdowns are few and far between. It is a hard decision I toyed with this decision for a long time, but I know I made the right one for Sean. He takes his meds like a little bird. Almost like he knows that it helps him. Good luck in your decision I know it is a hard one. Denise

for my son he HATED the phony taste of ANYTHING med related. I taught him at age 8 how to swallow pills by using things like tic tacs and m&ms. We would practice every day for just a few minutes when he got home from school.
He learned in about a week and it worked like a charm.
he still hates anything liquid but readily takes his medication which he HAS TO take due to his Bipolar, there is no choice.
As for your experience I have a close friend whose son has Autism (due to an autoimmune reaction to his MMR Vaccine) and EVERY TIME he gets sick, which isn't often he always acts much more "normal." This has to due with his immune system functioning in a more normal way.
It is SO INTERESTING that our kids have these weird reactions to being ill and I think it is all connected to why they have autism to begin with

Hi Challenger,
Steven was also so hyped he could not sit at school to learn, so we also tried risperdol and it worked very well. I did not like giving it to him either, it took me along time and being very tired out to accept well this is no way for him to live always bouncing around.
Its hard it still is every nite when i give him his Geodon, but HE is so much happier and calm.
He takes his pills straight up.
I just tell him what it is, he takes it usally chews them and i offer water.
when i tried to hide them... thats when he wouldnt take them. But I have to hide antibiotics, he will NOT do childrens flavored ones.
so I break it up and last week it worked with pudding.
One little piece at a time.
He likes the orange motrin or berry tylenol slow melt.
He does take him strawberry omega like a man I give him V8 to wash it down with .
Good luck on your choices.

when i first met adam and he had meltdowns he would tell his dad he needed his medicine to help him 'be good' he hates taking it, but does not resist. i figure because he knows how he gets when he doesnt take it.
adam without methylin (liquid rittalin) is easily agitated, not just a little, a lot! you can say his name and he will lose control. its like you are interupting him in his own world, his comfort zone, which is ok, but he cant live in that world all the time. it is a balancing act, he wants to learn and play and do things so it is a compromise, he knows he needs to focus to do things so that helps.
adam without the risperdal was psychotic, he saw people and things that were not there that frightened him to the point that he would become violent towards anyone in his way. scream, kick, cry, throw things, for hours on end, this happened everyday, almost all day, even in school. the risperdal put that to a complete halt. adam has not had a meltdown or tantrum since he started risperdal. not a single one. he has 6 yr old "i want what i want when i want it" fits, we will take that :)
he talks now, he plays now, he plays with more toys now, he is reasonable most of the time now. he is learning alot more now that he is not so out of focus. he is social now. the methylin is fast acting, we give it to him 1 tsp in the morning, 1 tsp at lunch (can give it to him late afternoon but very rarely do, only if he is in an unfamiliar situation that he shows sure signs of distress) it also killed his appetite. the risperdal, he gets 10 drops every night at bedtime and 16 drops every morning, at first he had only one side effect, constipation, but that is now gone. can not be sure it was the risperdal because another side effect is increased appetite, which in adams case is great because he never ate, underweight, now eats great, i am leaning towards the constipation possibly being a combination of the risperdal AND his body adjusting to having more solid food, something it rarely got for many yrs. anothing thing i have been told is risperdal will help him sleep at night, but, adam has never had sleep issues so that did not factor in the decision to give it to him. you know your child, you know what is best for him. if you think meds may help you give it to him, if you think it will not help then you dont, it is something you must look at the pros and cons and do what is right for your child. maybe talk to dr, see what they think. you can always just try it, and if you son does not react well to meds, then stop them. getting him to take them may not be too hard. what i did at first was have a cup of adams favorite drink right with him at med time, he took his med and got a drink. might have to bribe at first with favorite snack, whatever works! i know this is a really long reply but you asked for the details :) one more thing, adams dr made all the possible side effects very clear to me and then made it clear to me that he had never seen any of the really bad ones happen to any child in the 33 yrs he has taken care of kids with autism. ask lots of questions about any med. it took the risperdal about 10 days to really make a difference, oh and if you do give meds, make sure you let his teacher know so they can give you input on how he does at school. i am not trying to talk you into meds, just trying to give you all the info i personally know. good luck and hope he feels better soon!

See, the neuro paused before even mentioning the risperdal, very hesitant indeed, because my DS is already heavy. Not obese, just big boned, broadly structured, and a bit heavy too, as well as tall, big hands, feet etc. So If he were to gain weight, he would very easily become obese. Some people mention both tics, and drooling from meds. My DS has come a huge long way even with IBI, much calmer and more focused. Romm for improvement? YOu betcha!, my early interventionist hadn't seen him over the summer and the first week of school after 3 mos of IBI said he was a different child. She was amazed. Maybe I'm expecting too much or too fast an improvement? I know, the sp ed. teacher has spent some time with him on Starfall.com which I recommended. I haven't worked with him since the summer until this week and I could see him clicking and dragging the letters to form words. He wasn't doing that even 6-8 weeks ago. I'm so torn.

he may not need risperdal, he may not need any meds, maybe he just needs something to help keep him focused during the day, the methylin does that for adam fast acting, effects only last about 4 hrs. we do not give it to him afterschool, but we do give it on weekends just like a school day just because it helps him stay on track. there are many meds for you and the dr to discuss, ask your dr what they think. we even have the option to do the methylin 'prn' / as needed rather then on a schedule. we just feel like it is best for adam to take it regular. you know all kids are different, your son may not even respond to what adam does. you should talk to his dr it is probably your best bet. i would even mention the difference noticed when he was sick.

I understand your concern and it is one I've had over the years. But, here's what I do know. . . my son has been on meds that have made him really big. But, when we discover it we change meds and the weight has always melted away as fast as it came on. Thank goodness.

I can tell you that I fought medicating my son for quite awhile, especially when he was non-verbal.

We did Feingold, GF, etc. but when Kristopher turned 11 or so he stopped complying and these diets only work if they are 100% compliant.

So, we started more and more experimenting with medications.

For Kristopher, his developmental m.d. gives him one new med and usually takes him off of one old med. This way we don't have him on too many things at once.

He's always had alot of luck for ADHD with the dexadrine spansules. However, recently she switched him to a new med called Vyvanse that seems to be working well. He also takes Lamitcal and Geodon to help with obsessive compulsive behaviors and melt downs. The Geodon helps him to sleep so we moved that medication to nighttime. We have done pretty well. Even when he was being bullied he didn't totally melt down. That is a great thing.

We have Kris on Omega 3s, multi-vits, and magnesium citrate (for constipation) and he has done pretty well lately.

Yesterday he was a mess. It was my SIL's birthday so we took him out to eat. Kris was almost obnoxious. I just could NOT figure out what the problem was with him.

When we got home and it was time for night meds I found his morning meds still in the container.

Sometimes my mornings get so hectic. Kris is NOT a morning person and he is grumpy and he puts off and fights having to take his medication just because he's grumpy (he also fights eating breakfast, getting dressed, etc. so it's not about being against the meds or anything).

Yesterday morning I had to go to the dentist early so I had to get up and get myself ready, too. So, I just thought he'd already taken those darn pills. He hadn't. I put them in individual containers with his daily meds in each container. So, I realized late last night, "Aw, this is why Kris was so obnoxious tonight."

It makes me appreciate the medication every single day.

Without it Kristopher canNOT function. His life is much better with meds than without them.

hugs,

gaylek11

Hi, I work in a residential school in the UK for children with severe autism and i've seen first hand the difference Risperdal has on them. They go from totally unable to concentrate, sit still or do anything, to a lot calmer. Risperdal helps to reduce anxiety and with children with autism anxiety is a big issue. When they get anxious their concentration levels drop and they go into fight or flight mode and at when they are in this mode they won't learn anything.
My partner has Borderline Personality Disorder and takes Risperdal for her anxiety and it's made a big difference.
I know a lot of parents at our school don't want to medicate and I myself only suggest it as a possibility as a last resort, but it does have an effect for the better on the children, so sometimes it's a necessary evil.
These children have enough problems coping and understanding our world. So if there is something we can do to help them with that, we need to do it.
We have some of our kids that are reluctant to take medication and it's just a matter of trial and error until you find a way to get him to take it.
Try giving him just water from a syringe or his favourite juice from a syringe etc. don't know what you've already tried.
Good luck in whatever decision you take.

thanks everyone. It's something in the back of my mind. And it will probably be there for a while. I'm going to wait a little bit and schedule an appt. with the neurologist in the spring. Thinking back to sunday, he must have not been feeling well then either, because he didn't eat pizza (his favorite) and in the car he said, "mommy, go to doctor" and he hates the doctor. He also asked for animal crackers last night, probably knowing they would help his stomach. He was also clicking and dragging the mouse on Starfall.com, he hadn't ever done that before - the Spl Ed. teacher has been working on it with him. So maybe I'll do a little "wait and see" . If anyone else has anything else to add, please do. Information makes me feel more secure. I like reseaching any decision I make very thoroughly. Thanks again everyone! :)

You realy need to talk with a good child psychiatrist to get meds. I had a psychologist suggest risperdal without even meeting my kids. Yea right! I am seeking behavior intervention help, for a 3 year old. Not drugs. I personally do not think drugs are the solution for my kid at this time. I think there are many people who have a better life due to the assistance of Meds but the are other side effects issues. That's why you need a good doc to evaluate the situation and everyone is different and things can change.

The Govt requires a child psychologist to supervise the IBI program. So the one I have is similar to me, with regard to meds. She would probably advise me to also wait and see, and that his progress has come a long way just from the IBI.

Challenger,

You are a good mom and never forget it. You take all the time you need. You will do what is right for your child. We all have to be cautious about what we do or don't do because our children are counting on us to make the right decisions.

hugs,

gaylek11

I have found meds to be helpful in reducing hyperactivity and promoting good sleep. But the most important thing is to help my kids to learn self soothing skills. i try to use a calm voice and work toward solutions to their stress. I also found that being assertive is very important and negotiating with them. Meds can be helpful but should not be overly relied on to change behaviors and mood.