MEDICATION | Autism PDD

My 6 year old son with PDD-NOS is a very selective eater and has a small list of foods he will eat and that is it. He will not take medication of any kind. There have been times he has been sick and has needed medicine and he just wont take it. Ive tried liquid, chewables, hiding it in juice.. ive tried for example grape cold medicine in some grape soda- he knows its there. Tried even to have one person hold him and the other squirt it in his mouth (heart breaking but he needed antibiotics and it was either he took it orally or he went in for an injection every day). Well he even then spit it all over and threw up what he did swallow. When he was sick with the chicken pox this year he would not take any medicine at all, we wanted to get an antihistimine in him but he just would not take it. We tried the paper strips that melt, the chewable.. ugh everything.

Well I was just wondering what other parents have done. My other kids are hard to get meds in as wel but I can reason with them and explain they need it and if they dont take it they will get sicker.. but Jaden just doesnt seem to comprehend that.

Will he eat applesauce or pudding, or yogurt or anything like that?

I give my ds his Concerta (2 x 18mg pills one at a time), his Risperdal and his Clonodine in a spoonful of applesauce and have never had any problems.

If he will eat one of the above items, then just sneak his meds into it and give it to him.

With us, the applesauce has ALWAYS done the trick. He is too little to swallow pills and with the concerta, it can't be crushed, broken or chewed. so I get a teaspoon full of applesauce and put the pill down in it towards the end of the spoon that way it goes in first, and it works every time.

Good luck, I hope some of this helps you.
Sorry I can't help. I don't have too much trouble w/ giving meds. Maybe a social story? Does he know he's sick when he's sick? Maybe some role playing w/ doll's and a doctor set? Maybe when he's well, you could do thye medicine game, so that way he's not anxious about knowing he'll be taking it in the next five minutes. Good Luck!

Hi there......sorry you are experiencing difficulties on giving medication for your son.

My son is 11 now and its only been one year that he has taken to swallowing tablets and antibiotics (when needed). He actually decided himself that HE wanted to feel better when unwell and now he is excellent at taking them with water! Sorry, its probably not what you want to hear as your son is only 6.

We had the usual spitting out etc. and a few times when my son was younger and had the flu virus we resorted to paracetamol suppositories as this was the ONLY way to get the fever down!! Horrible I know, but it was completely necessary.

My son's understanding and reasoning is far better now and you will find this with your son as he gets older he will tolerate many more things. Its all down to sensory issues, issues with taste and texture. One good tip is to get his mouth de-sensitised with an electric toothbrush - it can be fun for them. My son hated it at first, including electric hair clippers!! but persevere, you can make a game out of it for him - set a sand timer as well (adds to the fun element)!!.

Let me know how you get on........its very difficult and emotionally draining when our children refuse to do stuff we want them to do, but as he grows he will certainly get there with the meds.......take care

mishy39333.4135069444

Here's a similar question on our forum that got 3 pages of replies. Lots of good tips.

http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=13906&am p;KW=popsicle

It's good to bring up these questions periodically, since new members have a chance to give answers and tips that worked for them.

Btw, here's a list of online resources for pickiness and eating difficulties:

http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=18317&am p;KW=pickiness

At the Sensory Processing Disorder website, I ran into this article today "Swallowing Pills: Helping the Medicine Go Down."

http://www.sensoryprocessingdisorders.com/help-for-swallowin g-pills.htm

Mason take a lot of meds for his seizures. We have used liquid, tablets, capsules...the liquid is always the hardest for Mason, he too knows it's in soda or juice.

We always try to get tablets or capsules (where you can open them up and put the sprinkles in something.) What works for us is frosting, lol. We put a little dab of frosting on a spoon. we put the sprinkles or tablet in the middle of it...he knows it's there, but having that frosting is enough of a treat for him that he just takes it. Might be something to try. We let Mason pick out which frosting he wants...if you try it, a little bit I have learned is that once you open the frosting and have to refridgerate it and it can get a little bit hard...so we stick to the frosting that says creamy, it stays the softest when trying to maneuver it around the meds.

Good luck, I know how hard it can be! I hope you find something that works.

Oh and P.S. if you are looking for cold meds etc, we have found that the meltaways work great...they are like those breath strips, they melt so fast that Mason doesn't have a chance to even spit it out...the strips work better than the meltaway tablets.