Many people have talked about medication for symptoms of Autism. There is medication for behaviors, attention and many other issues that can be related to Autism, including seizures and gastrointestinal issues. My son's situation has thusfar never required any medication, which I've been thankful for. I don't like using medication (for myself or my children) any more than absolutely necessary. However, after the visit with the neuropsychologist, I've had to rethink my stance on medication.
She recommended that Ryan begin taking Adderall for his extreme attention issues. She thought that it would help bring his attention to a more manageable level. I was concerned with side effects and she explained the possibilities very clearly. These included appetite loss and emotional distress on the short term and decreased blood pressure on the long term. All of these things can be reduced or stopped completely with the discontinuation of the medication. I decided to take the risk and try out the medication.
We started this past Saturday (3 days ago). So far I haven't noticed any negative issues but he does seem to be speaking more clearly and correctly. Today is the first day at school and I'm excited to see how it goes. One mother told me that her son reacted very well at home but school became overly stressful while on medication.
The hardest thing about knowing what paths to take regarding treatments, etc with children with Autism is that they all have such different needs and react differently to everything. Because something worked (or didn't work) for one child doesn't mean it won't work (or will work) for your child. It's all a big trial and error method of parenting...well, more than normal :)
Monday, March 14, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Introductions
Today we were doing a photo shoot for our Faces of Autism campaign and a fellow Autism Mom was there with her daughter and her son with Autism. Her daughter is around Ryan's age and is very cute. Ryan noticed and wanted to talk to her. He asked her mother if he could talk to her (the ultimate gentleman!! lol), then proceed to ask her what her name is, (with prompting) offer her his name, and awkwardly sticking his hand out to shake her hand. He concluded with a "It's nice to meet you".
I couldn't help but cry.
Ryan was trying so hard to perform the correct social duties. He wants to know the proper ways of doing these things, even though they are very challenging for him. He wants to have nice manners, say the right thing and do things 'just like everyone else'. It makes me cry for two reasons. One is happy and one is sad. It makes me cry out of happiness that he is growing, developing, and he WANTS to learn these social nuances that are so hard for him to understand. It makes me sad because it IS such a challenge for him. It was painful and awkward to watch him thinking through every movement, every word, searching for the right thing to do next. It's almost like he was talking to himself internally, going through this step by step, like we do in therapy.
We take for granted simple things such as extending a hand to someone when we first meet them, or casually saying 'nice to meet you!'. For Ryan, this is a step by step process that he has to be aware of all the time. But what makes me so proud is that he is doing it on his own now. I didn't prompt him to introduce himself. He WANTED to know her name and to meet her. Take THAT Autism!!
I couldn't help but cry.
Ryan was trying so hard to perform the correct social duties. He wants to know the proper ways of doing these things, even though they are very challenging for him. He wants to have nice manners, say the right thing and do things 'just like everyone else'. It makes me cry for two reasons. One is happy and one is sad. It makes me cry out of happiness that he is growing, developing, and he WANTS to learn these social nuances that are so hard for him to understand. It makes me sad because it IS such a challenge for him. It was painful and awkward to watch him thinking through every movement, every word, searching for the right thing to do next. It's almost like he was talking to himself internally, going through this step by step, like we do in therapy.
We take for granted simple things such as extending a hand to someone when we first meet them, or casually saying 'nice to meet you!'. For Ryan, this is a step by step process that he has to be aware of all the time. But what makes me so proud is that he is doing it on his own now. I didn't prompt him to introduce himself. He WANTED to know her name and to meet her. Take THAT Autism!!
Friday, March 4, 2011
The War on Food
Ahhh, food issues.
I know virtually every child with Autism has one food issue or another (or all of them!) but that doesn't make it any easier for my child. He has done food therapy, which has helped; primarily with helping us to deal with it, rather than help him eat more! But he still is stuck on the same few foods he's always eaten. He won't eat any vegetables. He'll eat a couple fruits (applesauce, apples, bananas and grapes) but won't explore new fruit options such as melons, oranges, berries, etc. Meat has to be prepared a certain way and typically if it's cut into pieces, he'll eat it with ketchup. But trying casseroles of any type are out of the question. He has just recently began using taco shells when we have tacos, whereas before he would simply eat the taco meat with a spoon. He loves any sugar and candy and chocolate.
I continue to try to give Ryan options on what he can eat besides these basic foods he's grown so comfortable with but he refuses. It can be hard during the holidays when a holdiday meal is prepared and Ryan won't eat one thing on the table.
I know virtually every child with Autism has one food issue or another (or all of them!) but that doesn't make it any easier for my child. He has done food therapy, which has helped; primarily with helping us to deal with it, rather than help him eat more! But he still is stuck on the same few foods he's always eaten. He won't eat any vegetables. He'll eat a couple fruits (applesauce, apples, bananas and grapes) but won't explore new fruit options such as melons, oranges, berries, etc. Meat has to be prepared a certain way and typically if it's cut into pieces, he'll eat it with ketchup. But trying casseroles of any type are out of the question. He has just recently began using taco shells when we have tacos, whereas before he would simply eat the taco meat with a spoon. He loves any sugar and candy and chocolate.
I continue to try to give Ryan options on what he can eat besides these basic foods he's grown so comfortable with but he refuses. It can be hard during the holidays when a holdiday meal is prepared and Ryan won't eat one thing on the table.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Neuropsych Results
I received Ryan's results from the Neuropsych today. I have mixed emotions. Now, I already met with her to discuss the results so there isn't any major shock however, reading the results on paper, in black and white...
It hits a nerve.
It makes it REAL.
It sounds so clinical.
It makes him seem so....
AUTISTIC.
I'd like to share with you some of the things that were written in this evlauation. Partly to help clarify my feelings to myself, as well as so that you may understand Autism and Ryan better.
"On examination...it was initially very difficult to get his attention. I approached him in the lobby and he was watching TV. I had to call his name several times in order for him to look away from the television and engage eye contact. He initially seemed confused or perplexed. A few moments after I introduced myself, it was as if things suddenly clicked for Ryan and he initiated an introduction. He appeared rather scripted and intrusive with respect to personal space in doing so, but clearly this is a skill he has been working on. Very shortly into the interview, he began interrupting his mother to tell me things. ...he often repeated back fragments of the questions that had been presented to him. He was also heard underneath his breath repeating some of the words that either his mother or I had used in conversation. Thus, echolalia was quite prominent. Ryan's play seemed as if he was in his own world and seemed to center around scenes or themes from favorite cartoons, TV shows, movies, etc. Nonetheless, he would take breaks from this activity to share stories or engage our attention in some way. When he did, his comments were seemingly random. When he did try to tell a story, it was very difficult to follow him. His discourse was choppy and disjointed. Mild articulation difficulties were appreciated. He showed poor appreciation of figurative speech, irony and humor. Ryan appeared to have a hard time understanding even basic questions. Ryan's spontaneous speech was much better. Overall, Ryan appeared to be a little boy who was largely lost in basic conversation."
sob sob sob
"Emotion regulation and sensory issues appeared particularly prominent. At one point, Ryan bent down and was huffing and tearful. When asked what was wrong, he commented that his pants would not stay tucked into his boots. He was told that he could take off his boots if he wanted to. He immediately kicked off his boots and then when the examiner asked if he felt better after taking off his boots off he seemed to get more frustrated and angry."
"Ryan did seem to want to please the examiner, but he seemed to have difficulty following instructions."
"There was occasionally the sense that he might be tryuing to be directly oppositiona but for the most part Ryan seemed to simply have a hard time complying with what was being asked of him. He usually knew when to say he was sorry for inappropriate behavior. It was interesting that on one occasion while the examiner was waiting for him to answer a question he asked her if she was mad. This suggest some difficulties with accurate reading of nonverbals."
"The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test was attempted, but was discontinued due to poor effort and Ryan's frustration level becoming too high."
"Ryan's performance on force choice questions was impaired as well, suggesting that much of the information was simply not processed or registered."
"Neuropsychological data are suspected of underestimating this bou's intellecual abilities. Ryan's emotional reactivity made it very difficult to know if we were fully getting his best effort throught the course of the assessment. What does seem quite likely based on data and history is that this is a boy who continues to struggle in the verbal domain."
"Ryan strugges with organization of information and planning."
Recommendations from Dr. Amy:
1. Continued therapy.
2. Continued IEP services.
3. Stimulant medication for attention disorder.
4. Continued monitoring of Ryan's cognitive development.
It hits a nerve.
It makes it REAL.
It sounds so clinical.
It makes him seem so....
AUTISTIC.
I'd like to share with you some of the things that were written in this evlauation. Partly to help clarify my feelings to myself, as well as so that you may understand Autism and Ryan better.
"On examination...it was initially very difficult to get his attention. I approached him in the lobby and he was watching TV. I had to call his name several times in order for him to look away from the television and engage eye contact. He initially seemed confused or perplexed. A few moments after I introduced myself, it was as if things suddenly clicked for Ryan and he initiated an introduction. He appeared rather scripted and intrusive with respect to personal space in doing so, but clearly this is a skill he has been working on. Very shortly into the interview, he began interrupting his mother to tell me things. ...he often repeated back fragments of the questions that had been presented to him. He was also heard underneath his breath repeating some of the words that either his mother or I had used in conversation. Thus, echolalia was quite prominent. Ryan's play seemed as if he was in his own world and seemed to center around scenes or themes from favorite cartoons, TV shows, movies, etc. Nonetheless, he would take breaks from this activity to share stories or engage our attention in some way. When he did, his comments were seemingly random. When he did try to tell a story, it was very difficult to follow him. His discourse was choppy and disjointed. Mild articulation difficulties were appreciated. He showed poor appreciation of figurative speech, irony and humor. Ryan appeared to have a hard time understanding even basic questions. Ryan's spontaneous speech was much better. Overall, Ryan appeared to be a little boy who was largely lost in basic conversation."
sob sob sob
"Emotion regulation and sensory issues appeared particularly prominent. At one point, Ryan bent down and was huffing and tearful. When asked what was wrong, he commented that his pants would not stay tucked into his boots. He was told that he could take off his boots if he wanted to. He immediately kicked off his boots and then when the examiner asked if he felt better after taking off his boots off he seemed to get more frustrated and angry."
"Ryan did seem to want to please the examiner, but he seemed to have difficulty following instructions."
"There was occasionally the sense that he might be tryuing to be directly oppositiona but for the most part Ryan seemed to simply have a hard time complying with what was being asked of him. He usually knew when to say he was sorry for inappropriate behavior. It was interesting that on one occasion while the examiner was waiting for him to answer a question he asked her if she was mad. This suggest some difficulties with accurate reading of nonverbals."
"The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test was attempted, but was discontinued due to poor effort and Ryan's frustration level becoming too high."
"Ryan's performance on force choice questions was impaired as well, suggesting that much of the information was simply not processed or registered."
"Neuropsychological data are suspected of underestimating this bou's intellecual abilities. Ryan's emotional reactivity made it very difficult to know if we were fully getting his best effort throught the course of the assessment. What does seem quite likely based on data and history is that this is a boy who continues to struggle in the verbal domain."
"Ryan strugges with organization of information and planning."
Recommendations from Dr. Amy:
1. Continued therapy.
2. Continued IEP services.
3. Stimulant medication for attention disorder.
4. Continued monitoring of Ryan's cognitive development.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
