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alzheimer’s meds to treat autism?Has anyone tried this or heard of doing this? quite a few years ago, the school psych told me at an IEP meeting that it was being tried with some degree of success. My ds wasn't experiencing or exhibiting any behavioral problems (as I understood them at the time) so I told her I wasn't interested in putting him on meds. I still don't want to unless I'm relatively certain that it will truly benefit him. The reason I bring this up so many years later is that I have been doing some research on Alzheimer's due to caring for an elderly lady who exhibits some of the symptoms. One of the things that I was completely unaware of (among many) was that there are many, many similarities between behaviors in communication difficulties and coping methods, agitiation, echolalia and suspected causes and coping methods, etc. Apparently two particular types help with cognitive function rather than behavioral presentations. Any thoughts and/or experiences? Yes I have heard of it, especially with the new Alzheimer's medicine. My Father was just DX on Oct. with Lewy Bodie Dementia it's a form of Alzheimers w/ Parkinson's and I do see the similarities with Autism. My DF medicine has helped with obsessions and especially cognitive issues. So your school psyc is right on the money and well informed. I have read that Alzheimers meds have been used in non-verbal children with ASD, and some began to talk. I found that very interesting. I truly was not aware Alzheimers had any other symptoms besides dementia. I certainly would like to see more research done in this area. My DD currently takes Amantadine, which is for parkinson's disease. It was explained to us like this: The neurons in her brain cannot make connections on her own, just like with parkinson's or alzheimers. Amantadine helps her to make the connections that she can't make on her own. It seems to really help with her thinking and memory. I work in a nursing home, and for dementia behaviors, we often give scheduled psychotropics, including risperdal, seroquel, zyprexa, haldol, ativan, and numerous antidepressants. The dementia behaviors often include physical and verbal aggression, repetiveness, anxiety--sound familiar?! Same as with our kids, it's often a hit and miss trying to find the right med that will help with the symptoms.
Thanks to everyone for the feedback. I found it very interesting to read the similarities and was really surprised to find how little I knew about Alzheimer's. Can I ask your opinions? First a little background. Ds was diagnosed ASD in 2002, at the age of 6. However, one dr. said no to ASD, and dx'd mild mental retardation. His test scores do fall in that range, but his teachers at the time and since then have all told me they don't believe it for one minute because of his abilities in class. They seem sure it is the limitations of the tests themselves in testing autistic kids that is producing such low scores. I bounce back and forth between agreeing with them and thinking maybe that dr. was right. Mostly, I don't think it's MR because he's too inconsistent. One day he can do remarkable, amazing things and the next (esp. if he's tired) he has difficulty comprehending a lot of things and performing tasks. I think if it were MR, it would be consistent. Having said all of that, as far as the classroom situation goes, he doesn't seem to have any behaviors that are keeping him from learning, as in stims, meltdowns. frustrations, etc. He is in self-contained and is very happy and does his work, etc. The teachers all love him and brag about how sweet and wonderful..... but he can't seem to learn as we do. Something just isn't connecting. The older he gets, the more apparent it is becoming and the further behind he is academically. Do you think the drugs that are more for cognitive function in Alzheimer's might be appropriate? Would you try them even if there are no apparent problems with behaviors and if your child is overall happy, etc.? As I said, he is way behind socially and academically, and still exhibits many of the asd symptoms, but what we usualy think of as "difficult behavior" (I'm straining for words, here) isn't really present. If there is something that will help him be able to learn and function more independently, I want him to have it, whatever it is. But I don't want to put him on anything that he doesn't need or that won't benefit, and in his instance, it just isn't clear to me.
42gether, it sounds like you need to find a good child psychiatrist who has lots of experience with kids on the spectrum and of course, meds. They give you and all the child's teachers a huge set of questionnaires to fill out. That info helps them better categorize the specific areas where your child needs help. There's a chance - it sounds to me - that your son may have ADD. You can't really "see" this attention issue, in that the kid is not running around from one activity to another. But if he is bright, as his teachers believe, he feel blase about doing some humdrum quiz or spelling thing. If the work is not "stimulating" enough, then perhaps he shuts down. That's how Cole is - his special ed teacher knows she has to sell or market his more boring lessons in order to keep him engaged. At any rate, you might check with the doc to see if a mild ADD med could help. Methilyn is very similar to Ritalin, but with lesser side effects. You can get it in a four-five hour dose so that your child has it out of his system by the time he gets home for school and is ready for dinner. It does curb lunch time appetites. Good luck! Thank you, LeAnne! I honestly never even considered ADD might be part of his dx. He hasn't been to a child psych since his original dx, and that was sooo long ago. It would be a good idea to take him, wouldn't it? If there's anything that can help him achieve more to his abilities, I want to try to find it. I may have been selling him short all these years . |
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