my 11 year old daughter recently got diagnosed with aspergers syndrome a form of autism now taking medication?

Question

rispiridone works by slowng the seritonein down in the brain its a new trial drug in the uk and its been tested over in america for a while does anyone out there have any have a child who's on the same medicaton its quite scary watching her take it every day but i've been promised its for the best ..

Answer 1

My three year old son has been diagnosed with Autism. He goes to the BEST facility in the country for Autism and Related Disorders. I have never heard of aspies or children with Autism being medicated (for just their autistic symptoms). Might want to consider a second opinion?

Answer 2

I don't have an actual answer for you but I do have a suggestion.

My son was born with Peirre Robin Sequence. When we found out I went online and found support groups with message boards. My suggestion is that you find the same sort of thing for aspergers syndrome. There you will be able to talk with other parents going through the same thing and maybe some others will have had experience with the same medication. As a plus you will have others to voice your concerns to and just help you along. Another thing is that eventually you can be the one supporting others who are just beginning to go through this.

Good luck and I wish you and your daughter the best.

Answer 3

Hi. I've got a 13yr old Son with Aspergers and have many contacts with similar children through a support group I help out with.

He's been prescribed a number of 'solutions' but in the end, just about everything I've used, seen and researched that is tried on 'Aspie's' has a similar effect. It will sedate your Daughter.

After being used on wide variety of disorders, for everyone from the young to the senile, the FDA approved risperidone in 2006 for the treatment of 'irritability in children and adolescents with Autism'.

Aspergers, as you know is at the more cognitively functional end of the spectrum. It's a tough decision and only you know your child, but in the end I weighed up my Son being 'calmer' and 'easier to manage' (?) against his ability to absorb what he needed to know for later in life.

I chose the later, and my Son is drug free, he is able to pay attention (although the school would disagree as he is a handful, but then why did his grades almost immediately improve?) and processes his education and general information as only an Aspie can.
By completely ignoring it and yet remembering every word.
Forcing them to modify their behaviour alters that ability.

Giving drugs effects their ability to co-ordinate just as it would anyone.
Aspergers kids learn their own method of co-ordinating it isn't a 'natural' ability.
I feel that drugs remove this option from them, I know of NONE specifically for Aspergers and my personal experiences are that they are a 'patch' and do more harm than good to the child, but give parents and the rest of society a break.
Aspergers isn't a disease. you are born with it, and will die with it.
You need to ask yourself (and I know it's a very hard call) if you need an easier time dealing with her now or if She will need to be more aware of now to help her when She's an adult?

Sorry it's such a sh!tty, but I hope you understand, from the heart response.

Good luck x

Answer 4

medication will treat the "side effects" of autism such as anxiety, depression and obsessive disorders but there is no classic treatment for autism (aspergers, etc)

Your daughter was most likely prescribed this in order to help her calm down enough to focus on day to day tasks. Serotonin re-uptake inhibitors or SRIs have a sedative effect and are used for a range of conditions.

They work on the chemical aspect of the brain but not the neurological and Autism is neurologically based.

Answer 5

My daughter was diagnosed at 14 years old. We held off on any medication until high school, when my daughter started getting anxiety attacks. It was her choice to try a medication. She started on a very low dose of
Paxil (10 mg). It has helped her immensely (it keeps serotonin in the brain longer) with her anxiety, and with interacting socially. She is now 20 and doing well. Of course, during the teen years, I had to teach her many things that are so easy for other teens to just "know" or "absorb".

I recommend the OASIS AS Support forum, which I belong to.
It has a whole section on medications. Also a whole section just for girls with the condition (who generally aren't as affected as boys). Go to www.Delphi forums.com, click on "forums" and email them about how to join. It has been years that I have been reading it, and don't remember how I got my free basic membership.

Answer 6

I have had asperger's syndrome all my life, but was just diagnosed with it last year and what I can tell you is that here in the United States of America where I live, asperger's is treated with the same drugs that are also used to treat ADD/ADHD.
Don't worry about your child too much - asperger's won't affect her adversely - in fact, it made me intelligent beyond my age (and I'm in my early 20s).

Answer 7

The private hospital below has an interesting article on autism.

Answer 8

I HAVE A FRIEND THAT TRIED IT WITH HER SON & TOOK HIM OFF BECAUSE OF WEIGHT GAIN, DROOLING, & OVER SEDATION.

DOES YOUR DAUGHTER SEEM TO BE HANDLING IT O.K.? SHE SAID SOME DOCTORS AT FIRST WERE PRESCRIBING IT IN THE U.S. AT TOO HIGH OF LEVELS. KIDS SEEMED DAZZED & A BIT ZOMBIE-LIKE BUT, I'M SURE THE DOSING SCHEDULE HAS BEEN ADDRESSED BY NOW. SHE HASN'T HEARD ANY NEGATIVES ON LONG TERM EFFECTS. HOPE THIS HELPS!

Answer 9

my son has been on it, he had a bad reaction to it, it was making him throw up, hopefully your daughter can stomach it better, good luck.