adhd and autism

[Erica Hager]

also with meds with adhd in autistic children keep in mind one thing my sons pysch mentioned they tend not to be as effective in children with autism -- straterra which is non-stimulant adhd med seems to help many kids but had no effect on my son without a stimulant also -- he is on vyvanse 30mg 2x a day and clonidine at night and that works beautfully

Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. [/url] "] Try it now.[/url]

[Erica Hager]

april

i totally agree! my son is high functioning autistic/aspbergers (ie high IQ in some things but at times very bad autistic symptoms (anxiety, sensory issues, adhd obsessive, hand flapping etc.). one thing that helps most is ROUTINE, sticking to a schedule so he knows what happens next -- sounds like the car incident was because she was "forced" to transition too quickly from talking to not talking more quickly then she would have liked. I have a copy of the kids school schedules posted at home and try to stick to those schedules during weekends and breaks in order to keep things consistent. alot of time aspbergers and autistic and adhd kids crave routine so they know what to expect and it gives them a chance to work through any anixety or sensory issues before the next task or event -- egg timers, clocks etc are all great tools, even verbal reminders and cues or a PECS board like they have at school which shows pictures of the
activity broken into smaller steps.

we stick to pretty much the same daily schedule and once or twice weekly errand days but I schedule them tuesday and thursday (and wednesday if its a rough week), and we try to do most appts and errands in the am right after meds kick in, afternoons tend to be crazy from 4-5 until 7-9 (dinner and bedtime and baths) that is when meds are wearing off. also keeping the child on meds during breaks and weekends is vital, otherwise their whole body chemistry gets thrown out of whack, and the day they go back to a full dose they will be more "zombie-like" and when changing meds ask the doc to titrate the dose up in minimal increments that way you get maximum effect with minimum meds and minimum side effects. it means more visits but it is better that a child in that state been seen regularly anyway. make sure also they give you a worksheet for you and any teachers and caregivers to fill out to rate how the meds are working and take lots
of notes. with my son there is a huge difference when he is on the right amount of meds you would never guess there was a problem, but if he is off meds its a whole new story -- just ask anyone who has had to see me shop at publix at 5pm with my son as opposed to early in the day LOL..........ok ask anyone within a mile radius about the tantrums (too much noise, light, stimulation -- sensory overload).

hth

erica

Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. [/url] "] Try it now.[/url]

[Candy Holbert]

Your totally right there. And being mildly ADHD myself on top of

having Fibromyalgia having a routine was/is very very hard. But Matt

can deal with change much better now



On 3/15/08, Erica Hager <ericahager2005@yahoo.com> wrote:

> april

>

> i totally agree! my son is high functioning autistic/aspbergers (ie high IQ

> in some things but at times very bad autistic symptoms (anxiety, sensory

> issues, adhd obsessive, hand flapping etc.). one thing that helps most is

> ROUTINE, sticking to a schedule so he knows what happens next -- sounds like

> the car incident was because she was "forced" to transition too quickly from

> talking to not talking more quickly then she would have liked. I have a

> copy of the kids school schedules posted at home and try to stick to those

> schedules during weekends and breaks in order to keep things consistent.

> alot of time aspbergers and autistic and adhd kids crave routine so they

> know what to expect and it gives them a chance to work through any anixety

> or sensory issues before the next task or event -- egg timers, clocks etc

> are all great tools, even verbal reminders and cues or a PECS board like

> they have at school which shows pictures of the activity broken into

> smaller steps.

>

> we stick to pretty much the same daily schedule and once or twice weekly

> errand days but I schedule them tuesday and thursday (and wednesday if its a

> rough week), and we try to do most appts and errands in the am right after

> meds kick in, afternoons tend to be crazy from 4-5 until 7-9 (dinner and

> bedtime and baths) that is when meds are wearing off. also keeping the

> child on meds during breaks and weekends is vital, otherwise their whole

> body chemistry gets thrown out of whack, and the day they go back to a full

> dose they will be more "zombie-like" and when changing meds ask the doc to

> titrate the dose up in minimal increments that way you get maximum effect

> with minimum meds and minimum side effects. it means more visits but it is

> better that a child in that state been seen regularly anyway. make sure

> also they give you a worksheet for you and any teachers and caregivers to

> fill out to rate how the meds are working and take lots of notes. with my

> son there is a huge difference when he is on the right amount of meds you

> would never guess there was a problem, but if he is off meds its a whole new

> story -- just ask anyone who has had to see me shop at publix at 5pm with my

> son as opposed to early in the day LOL..........ok ask anyone within a mile

> radius about the tantrums (too much noise, light, stimulation -- sensory

> overload).

>

> hth

>

> erica

>

>

>

>

__________________________________________________ ______________________________\

____

>

>

>