Drugs for AS children

Post Reply New Topic

Hi everbody,

I just wanted to share my input obout the meds, my8 year son has been on Ritalin for 2 &1/2 Years now at first we didn't know what to do of course so much negativity it scares you, but we were at our wits end and could not handle it, the teachers could not handle him. So we decided to try it and i can honestly say i dont regret it, he is so much more focused at school he still has his days but overall a big improvement. My advice for other parents would be do what you think is best for your own child. It is sad though, you get some really bad comments from other parents about you having your child on meds, they see it as taking the easy way out not knowing what we are dealing with. I dont think its fair and it makes you feel like the worst mom in the world when in actual fact we are doing it not to hurt our children but hopefully offer them a better quality of life.

Well said, im having a hard time, and i am thing about going back on the ritalin, and i dont think its a wrong thing to do at all.

Some parents just dont understand how difficult it is, parents just want the best for thier child, just like my folks want the best for me.

All the best for your son, i hope he does well at school, and remember to give him plenty of encouragement, posativity is the key to success

If only they could walk a mile in our shoes...

I suppose it would be difficult for people who, having never known the difficulty of not being able to concentrate and focus on anything for any length of time, would be able to comprehend why it would be necessary (sometimes) to use medication. Oh, and the idea of impulse control, or lack thereof, in a 10 y/o child, when the general populous has no problem with it, seems absurd. It's my opinion (maybe exclusively) that most cannot think outside the box. For this, I suppose, I cannot fault them for they are ignorant. If something isn't amiss - why educate yourself about it.

You're doing the best you can under the circumstances. We all are. I believe that there is a certain percentage of children AND adults who need to take medication to help them to suceed. In the alternative, I also see society manipulating the social norms in that they expect little boys to act and behave as if they were little girls, and so there is a lot of pressure put on parents to "do something about Tommy's behavior." However, "Tommy" is just doing what normal little boys have always done. Therefore, you see a lot of parents being convinced that there must be something wrong with their child because he does not fit neatly in the school or society's little box. The parents then rush out to their pediatricians for a prescription. With the influx of so many children taking medication these days, some because they really need it and some because society says they need it, you're bound to have someone who doesn't believe in medicating their children (probably because their children don't need it and they are ignorant to neurological diseases) critcize you for doing so. Ignore them. They are irrelevant. The only thing that matters is how your child is doing. Is he happy? Does he like himself? Is the medication right for him?

You are a good and caring mother.

Thank you so much foryour comments is is nice to know there are people out there who doesn't think your a monster for putting your child on meds. My son is doing great , he is doing well in school and i try to encourage him each and every day he is my world and love him very much.
Some people say it is a sin to medicate him he is just being a little boy, but they don't have to deal with it every day, they make that assumption from being around him for like 30 minutes or so on occassion so in actual fact they are not around him enough to make a judgement like that. Thay don't really know what we as parents of children with this disorder go through every day. Some days he is good and some it is hard to get through .I am going it alone my husband has to travel a distance and stay away from home for a while to further his electrical course and then go back to alberta for work which is a great distance from where i live. It is so comforting when he walks through that door and i know i am not alone.

Take Care, Diana

Hi Diana. I think every parent who doesn't have a well-traveled road in front of them feels judged. My best friend is gay, with a small child who seems likely to be transgendered. I have two Aspie sons. My friend and I both know what its like to be out of the norm, but since our situations are so different we don't judge each other's decisions about our kids. I treasure our friendship so much it almost makes me cry thinking about it.

But you were talking about medications. My older son had severe anxiety problems. The behavioral modifications didn't work, and his problem became so severe he couldn't even finish a day at school. We found a good psychiatrist and put him on fluvoxamine. It has made a huge improvement in his quality of life. Whenever someone scolds me for this decision I just talk to my best friend and remember that no one can understand your situation from the outside.

I tried to post earlier but I can't find it anywhere so thought I must have lost it. Let's try again...
I posted a question about medications on the general forum and have gotten some great replies there.
I am mother of 4 children, daughter almost 9, son almost 8, daughter 6 and adopted son almost 5. My son, Cris (7), is in the process of a diagnosis for Asperger's/ADHD and our pychiatrist has mentioned trying medications. I was not happy to hear this and actually burst out crying in his office. But, I do want to be open to the possibility that perhaps a medicine could help my son. His biggest issue at this time is getting in trouble for not keeping his hands to himself. He is very impulsive and will hit, poke, spit, push, slap at other students for various reasons. He has been sent to the office numerous times and is beginning to think of himself as a bad person. I hate this! Our school is very small and rural and they just don't have the staff or financing to help us very much. Homeschool is always in the back of my mind. I am hoping our doctor will be able to give us more suggestions about how to handle the school system. This forum has been wonderful. It is nice to know you are not alone.

Why would you cry? If he has a brain chemical imbalance, why is taking something to create a better balance a bad thing? It is the media that is driving perceptions of medication. They take some small correlation published in an obscure journal and blow it up into something ridiculous. The environment is more complicated and stressful than it has ever been in history and some people are not genetically disposed to dealing with 100 mundane items a day intead of a couple that require intense focus. Why do those of us who are not comfortable in an overstimulated world have to suffer? 75% of people are extraverted and comfortable and those are the ones that proprogate this misinformation.

Forgive me if this sounds defensive, it isn't intended to be a rant!

My 17 year-old son suffers from depression and anxiety. I think they are related to his Asperger's but I may never know for sure. We have talked about his feelings, his anxiety and the effect the CELEXA has on these issues. Together with his Dr, whom I have come to believe is competent, I believe that at this point in his life the medication is needed to get him through a period of his life that he is anxious and obsessive about his daily life and his future. We discuss coming off the medications and he tells me he isn't ready, that they help him stop thinking about his worries. Just as medications should not be thrown at every problem, the use of medication should not be viewed as giving into weakness AS people, like all of us, are individuals, and decisions on medications should be made on individual circumstances, based upon careful thought.