autism and meds

[LauraAnn630]

My niece is very hard to deal with. She is constantly screaming and doing things she shouldnt be doing. My sister is at the end of her rope lately.
She runs away and goes in other peoples houses. Neighbors have threatened to call the police.

Do they give 13 yr old children with autism ativan or Xanax?

What can be done to calm her down?

She has a neuro doc, phyc doc and therapist. They do not do to much.

She is on meds. Nothing to calm her down tho.

TIA

 

[BeckyScott]

Kids with autism do not always have meds affect them the same way as the meds would affect a neuro-typical child.

My suggestion would be a second (or third) opinion, trying out different doctors. This is what I've learned, and it was a hard lesson, is that I have to be an advocate for my son. Which means I get to question doctors. And if they don't want to explain things to me or do the eye-roll, I take my business elsewhere. I've become a very cranky woman.

If the docs are not doing too much, if your sis thinks they're not doing enough, she should find someone willing to listen to her concerns, realize the extent of the problem, and give her suggestions for specific things to do that will help. She should feel like she is being listened to. No exceptions.

And what she probably needs most of all is someone to babysit for a few hours.

 

[bookwormde]

Medications are typically a “bridge” to moderate maladaptive manifestations until adequate environmental and skill development systems are in place and making progress.
If the manifestations have reached the level of a being a co-morbid clinical diagnosis then it is much more serious and will take that above and intensive care for the co-morbidity.

If she has been on medications without a comprehensive plan for development, which is appropriate for a spectrum individual, then the opportunity that those medications could have created has probably been lost.

Meds are not the answer they are just one tool, which needs to be used with great care, since what they do and the potential negative side effects are quite different in spectrum individuals.

bookwormde

 

[LauraAnn630]

They are doing all that for her. Shes been to many doctors over the years.

I just do not understand why they cant get her under control. Everyday is so hard for them. Its the same with the other kids and there families in her class at school.

There were other kids with autism at her birthday party. I could not take care of a special needs child. The girls are so strong they can push me around. All 3 of the children with autism at the party acted the same. Screaming, very impulsive so I know its just not my niece. All of these parents are trying everything they can for there kids.

It just seem to me like they could give them something to help keep them calm. It must feel awful to feel so impulsive and always getting in trouble.

I do not know how the parents are doing it. God bless them!

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I agree that your sister should consult another doctor. She needs to find a psychiatrist who has experience with autistic kids. My 13 year old son has Asperger's. We consulted a psychiatrist when he was 8 to help us with his impulsive and sometimes dangerous behavior (like staring a fire in the den). The doctor put him on Zoloft for his anxiety and Risperdal for impulse control. The Risperdal caused him to eat way too much so we switched him to Geodan. These meds helped him a lot. He was calmer and able to reign in his impulses. By the time he was 10, we were able to ween him off of the Geodan. We are currently weening him off the Zoloft. He's gone from 150 mg a day to 25 and doing just fine. We have him in a great school that he loves. His anxiety peaked last fall when he started middle school. It was after we moved him to a special ed school that we were able to start cutting the Zoloft.

I think the right meds can help a lot. But you need a doctor who is very familiar with autistic kids and willing to try different things until something helps. My son has calmed down a lot. He now functions like most other 13 year olds. He still has his challenges and occasional outbursts, but we can easily redirect him and he can calm down rather quickly.

Good luck to you and your sister. I'm sure there's an answer out there somewhere!

 

[LauraAnn630]

The deal is....

She had been to ALL the docs over 12 years. They think this is as good as this child will get and they just have to deal.

Shes on risperdal and prozac, last time I checked.

I guess my real question is...

Does anyone have there child on something like ativan (chill pills) or are these types of drugs not used with autism?

Frankly, I do not know how they are going to deal as she gets older and stronger. You cant take your eyes off her for a minute!
I mentioned this to her and she said the doctors never mentioned any kind of pills to keep her calm. Why NOT!???

They must know how difficult it is to be a full time parent of a child with autism.


Thanks to everyone for the advice!

 

[bookwormde]

I will try to make this as non critical as possible but what you describe harkens back to how some autistic children were "medially treated" back in the 30's and 40's, where they were considered to be mentally ill and were medicated to the point where there manifestations were suppressed, along with any quality of life.

I know this is not your intent, but is the practical effect of what you are asking about.

What the family needs is to find a program with daily services to help the child meet her full potential. There are many new programs, which are proving more effective than past ones. I just finished staking a class taught by Jim Ball which can be adapted to most of the spectrum and is much better that most ABA systems. The parents just need to keep trying new methodologies to move forward as much as possible.

It is always a “fight” to find and get these services but typically is well worth it.

bookwormde

 

[LauraAnn630]

I hear you. I have bi polar and take ativan. It helps a lot.

I have been on most of the meds they prescribe for autism for my bi polar. I know how a lot of the meds made me feel. I also understand they work for some people. They seem to treat autism and bi polar with the same meds.

She is in a day program during the school year and a summer program with a private aide.

Her quality of life is what Im worried about now. She cant go anywhere or do anything. Its so overwhelming for her.

 

[bookwormde]

If she is not improving in her current settings, I would suggest changing setting and programs (yes I know this is much easier said than done) but with all the advances in education and non “medical” therapies in the last few years it is the best option available at this time.

I hope things work out better with time. The parents just need to save up their energy and go at it again from a new direction. I am sure your support is helpful.

bookwormde

 

[1stluvispooh]

Have they tried any biomedical treatment? The main one that gets the most press, bad and good but also has the best results 80% being positive is Gluten Free/ Casein Free. There are other diets as well and supplements they can try. Have they ever taken her to a DAN! Dr. ? They might want to look into it.

 

[Crazy4Disney72]

The deal is....

She had been to ALL the docs over 12 years. They think this is as good as this child will get and they just have to deal.

Shes on risperdal and prozac, last time I checked.

I guess my real question is...

Does anyone have there child on something like ativan (chill pills) or are these types of drugs not used with autism?

Frankly, I do not know how they are going to deal as she gets older and stronger. You cant take your eyes off her for a minute!
I mentioned this to her and she said the doctors never mentioned any kind of pills to keep her calm. Why NOT!???

They must know how difficult it is to be a full time parent of a child with autism.


Thanks to everyone for the advice!

My DS 11 is on the spectrum (PDD-NOS) and he has been taking Risperdal for 3 years and it has helped him tremendously. He also has Ativan, but we have only used that once and that was when we flew to CA last November. The first time we flew to CA, it was just DS and me and he was fine the first two hours, but after that was ready to be done with the plane and be in Disneyland, and didn't understand why the plane couldn't land now. He got more and more agitated and couldn't be distracted by anything else as he perseverated on wanting the plane to land. I thought I was going to lose my mind, and couldn't even fully enjoy his first trip to DL because I was so dreading the plane ride home. After that, his doc said he would give him something so we didn't have to go through that again. We didn't use it for flying to WDW as that's only a 2 hour trip, but it came in quite handy for flying all the way to CA. It didn't knock him out, but it made him sit very quietly and be very compliant. I would not want to use something like that unless it was absolutely necessary.

My heart goes out to your niece and her parents, it sounds like they really have their hands full with her.

 

[mechurchlady]

They are doing all that for her. Shes been to many doctors over the years.

I just do not understand why they cant get her under control. Everyday is so hard for them. Its the same with the other kids and there families in her class at school.

There were other kids with autism at her birthday party. I could not take care of a special needs child. The girls are so strong they can push me around. All 3 of the children with autism at the party acted the same. Screaming, very impulsive so I know its just not my niece. All of these parents are trying everything they can for there kids.

Unless you have the Stepford Children then it seems to be an environmental issue. Autistic kids tend to be different and some are sedate and others bouncers. Some hide from stuff and others seek out the very same stuff that the other kids are running from. It is very strange that ALL the kids are not progressing and have similar traits.

I think the school needs to be looked into. What is the school like, what are the daily activities and what behaviour modification is being attemped. Some schools bend over backwards to help autistic children be as normal as possible while others take the kids in and let them out at night with no real attempts at helping the kids. If multiple kids are not thriving and are in the same school I would be looking at the school.

I would look at other schools or even taking the kid out of school and starting from scratch. The parents, doctors and school should be looking at what the child's triggers are. From what I read on this board there is a lot of training and stuff that can be done to help an autistic child. However it can take a decade for a milestone to happen like recently a mother was celebrating her son being diaper free at past age 10. Kids, even the nonautistic, sometimes cannot tell parents what is making them uncomfortable. There are not easy answers or pat training methods for children as life gives you a child and you have to raise it to the best of your abilities while sometimes not knowing things. Like nobody told my friend that his kid was learning cuss words and snotty remarks from my friend's brother. It would have been nice if the Child Training Manual said to watch out for potty mouthed brothers, lol.

 

[blondietink]

My DS is 16 yo and has classic Autism. He has not been on any medication yet, but we are investigating it currently due to some ADHD type symptoms. We are going through a neuropsychological evaluation for this and then going to a psychiatrist who specializes in developmental disabilities. There have been many times through the years when I wished to put him on some good drugs, but I know the devasting effects many medications can have on people with Autism. There were time when I wished I had some good drugs for myself, too.

I also worked with the developmentally disabled for over 11 years. I would say in many cases of behavioral issues with individuals with Autism the behaviors were much worse when there was communication problems and/or unmet sensory needs. Although my son can talk (and sometimes never shuts up) he cannot communicate to me or anybody else when he feels sick, has a headache, toothache, is hungry, needs a break from an activity, needs to have a hug, etc. You get my drift. So, he acts out in these situations usually by crying or yelling. If you ask my child why he is crying, he will say he is sad. When you ask him why he is sad, he will say he is crying. Everybody that is sad cries. It is very frustrating. Social stories have helped somewhat but there usually isn't one handy when he is upset that fits his exact situation. Sometimes he will just go to his room in time out, cry and wrap himself up in a blanket until he is calm, or bounce on his therapy ball for an hour.

Environmental changes can help a lot in the home and remaining calm whenever possible. People with Autism can pick up very easily when people are either afraid of them or dislike them. Just simple lighting changes can help tremendously as well as lowering noise levels.

Just MHO from a mom who's been there.

 

[LauraAnn630]

Thank you everyone! You are all so kind to give advice and share experiences.

My mother passed away. I'm devastated. Heres the thread.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1974743