Our Story Of Using Medicine
Parents,
I know it’s a touchy and controversial issues and you have your opinions and I can respect that–but if you are considering whether or not giving your child with autism various medications and you haven’t made up your mind–let me share with you our story.
William has always been a hyper child. He stems (flaps, taps, flicks, jumps) and that’s a way that he 1) gets attention 2) releases energy 3) shows excitement 4) shows unhappiness…basically he stems quiet a bit. We’re okay with that, working on it in other ways…but about 6 months ago we talked it over with his doctors at The Child Study Center in Ft. Worth, Texas, and we decided to start him on medication in hopes to calm him a bit, to help him settle down, to help him sleep and to “even out” during the day.
I don’t know how many meds we tried, but it wasn’t successful at first. He was extremely irritable, was stemming more than ever before, wasn’t sleeping and was reverting back to two years ago…for those of you who don’t know, two years ago we were dealing with William waking 10+ times a night, pooping on the floor, wiping it all over his room, furniture, walls…multiple times a day…throwing tantrums all the time, not using his words…it was BRUTAL!
Finally we found the right medicine! It’s been 3 weeks since he’s been taking his new medication and IT’S AMAZING! Not only has his behavior improved, his teachers have noticed a difference in his behavior, he is using his words, he is sleeping better, tantrums and stemming of course are still there, but he has shown massive improvement.
It might not all be the medication. We are working with him a lot at home and encouraging his good behavior and use of words. He is getting amazing teaching and ABA therapy at The Child Study Center as well. But I am not going to discount the benefit of medication in his demeanor.
I’m not condoning medication for every child with autism. It is a unique decisions for each and every family to decide. I’m just saying: “If you are considering trying certain mediations for your child with autism, I would encourage you to talk to your doctor and make the best decision for you and your child.”
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@RaisingAspergersKids – that’s right…and that’s why I wanted to share our story. No one likes to me a “slave” to medication but it was right for us and it might not be right for others–but I agree, too often we dismiss the idea that medication can help our child and won’t hurt them in the long run…but certainly consult your doctor and talk about it as a family
just like our children on the spectrum…every situation is totally different
Thanks for reading!
TheFowler4Group
http://www.lookatmyeyes.com – now in Spanish
@Scarlet Chancey@facebook – that’s the same medication that our son was on. I wrote that blog about a year ago and we too have had the same thought…is the medication still effective? I think we started him off with one pill a day and then it got up to 1 1/2 pills twice a day. Recently we met with our doctor about getting him off the medication and we started weening him off slowly but almost immediately we could see a change in his stemming, behavior, sleeping…not sure if it was the meds or something else but there was definitely a change…so we’re back on 1 1/2 a day and we’ll see how that goes.
I would consult your doctor to see if you need to increase. Good luck…keep us posted
TheFowler4Group
http://www.lookatmyeyes.com – now in Spanish!
If you can find the right combination of medicines, it can be a great boon to our children. It can help them focus so that they can assimilate their therapies and as with my youngest can also help them focus so that they even can figure out which words to use and how to use them. There is too much stigma still placed on psychiatric medications. Too many people are afraid to use them thinking its for the weak or worried what others may think. What you should do is figure out what is best for your child and do it…