Due to his consistent aggression and inability to impulse control, Fooboy and I decided to start him on a medication that has had some good effects for kids on the Autism Spectrum: Intuniv. We started in August 2011, at age 7 3/4.
We have talked medication with various doctors for several years, but didn’t feel right to start him on anything, until this summer. We started him on 2 mg with mainly two goals in mind: to help his brain slow down a little so when he gets angry he won’t lash out and physically hit, and to help his brain slow down a little so he can think about behavior and not impulsively act.
So far so good. In fact, all summer long (before medication) he was SO ANGRY with me for making him start a new school. I couldn’t even mention the new school without a major knock-down, drag out tantrum occurring. One week into the medication, for the first time, he didn’t react when I mentioned school. The week before school I was able to prepare him (show him the new school, meet teacher, see classroom, see new school uniforms, talk about lunch, etc). All the *normal* things you do with your kid, that he was completely resisting prior to starting the medication. Yay! We’ve noticed that he’s become alot more communicative as well – as in. . . communicating those deep thoughts he has, that normally just stay there, making us constantly wonder what is going on in his little brain?!?!
