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Does anyone have any ideas on calming a 7 year old with autism and adhd?
My son has been diagnosed with autism and adhd. The older he gets, the more impulsive and hyperactive he becomes. It is often hard to deal with him, especially in public, because of his behavior. He is receiving Occupational Therapy once a week in school, and will also be receiving an additional hour of outside OT soon. He is not currently on medication, as the neurologists have told me that a lot of meds that work for ADHD have adverse effects in kids with autism. Plus I am nervous about the effects they may have on him. We tried Focalin for a while, which had no benefit and even seemed to make him more aggressive. He is also on a gluten free-casein free diet. Any informative suggestions would be appreciated.
2 Answers
- SagusLv 52 decades agoFavorite Answer
Here are some ideas from a parent of 2 children with autism and adhd. As for your child acting out in public,children with Adhd and Autism often have very, very short attention spans and prone to having sensory overload. When going out in public does he have something like a blanket that he can take along as a comfort measure? You might want to try taking activities along for him to do (drawing, books,etc..) Avoid legos, they drive kids with autism and adhd up a wall!
Your child may very well need medication. Ask you doctor about a cocktail of drugs. My son takes Luvox and Risperdal everyday. We can tell when he misses a dose! He get more aggressive, acts out, is hard to redirect.
May I suggest that the parents get on some sort of anti-depression medication. Having a special needs child can be VERY harrowing!!!
If you need any more help don't hesitate to ask. We can arrange a way to chat.
Source(s): Self, living one day at a time. - 2 decades ago
Children with autism and/or ADHD often have short attention spans, sensory regulation needs, and executive function deficits (they can't plan, organize, wait, sequence, etc.) Routines can be one method of dealing with some types of outings. Set patterns of when, where and how you do them increases the predictability and decreases the child's stress enabling them to endure more successfully. Aids such as picture schedules, lists or social stories may help a child prepare for an outing and know what to expect.
A key to eliminating a behavioral problem is to examine when and why the behavior is occuring. Behavior is a form of communication. If you can figure out the cause then you can work on a functional adaptation. Is the child frustrated or anxious? Is he bored? Is the child overloaded with sensory input? These are just examples of things to consider when trying to disect the root of a behavior.
If the behaviors are grossly impacting the ability of the child to function in multiple settings then medication may be worth considering. Medication is something that should be considered with caution, but not avoided at all costs. For every treatment there is a cost/benefit. Does the potential benefit outweigh the possible cost? If the answer is yes, then it's worth trying. Not all medications in each class act the same on every child. What that means in practice is that you may have to try more than one, or more than one combination to achieve the desired results, but on the other hand, if one does not work then there are alternatives still available.
