Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi
We are trying to make the decision medicate fully, partly, ad-hoc or not at all.
Our son has ASD with very likely ADHD although not officially diagnosed. He has significant problems with concentration, impulsive behaviour, distraction,hyperactivity which inevitably makes safety difficult, especially in new surroundings on holiday etc and means we just don't do a lot of things which the whole family could enjoy and things he would love to do himself. I anticipate only 50 - 60% of his ability is accessed at school due to concentration probelms.
Our paedatrician has suggested Ritalin and states it is safe and has been proved to be for the last 50 odd years. She has suggested we try it on a trial and low dose. I have heard the odd snippet of info. that is controversial on Ritalin and wondered if anyone has any experience they could share. Side effects, long term, did it affect them later in life, are they still on it years later or did it help them learn strategies to cope with life? So many questions in my head.
It feels such a big responsbility making this decision. We want him to have the best quality of life and educational opportunity he can but do not want to put him at greater risk of potentially more sinister impacts.
Any help appreciated.
Thanks
<p>Hi</p><p>I have 2 sons who have ADHD as well as asd. The eldest was on varying forms of Ritalin, fast acting and slow release, my younger son is on equasym xl. Both have responded very well to it, they concentrate and are far less compulsive and impulsive. My eldest, now 18, decided he didn't want to "take drugs to control him" and stopped at 15, he is still very impulsive now but is doing ok. He did go off the rails for a few years though, got in with the wrong crowd and unfortunately has experimented with other forms of getting high :( but to be honest I think he would of done that anyway, regardless of whether he was on medication or not. My younger lad is still much improved, he's been on it for a year and his school work has improved (although that's had a negative impact on trying to get his statement!). I would tell him rather than not, The chances are he will feel different ( more in control) and he will probably be more aware of his surroundings which he may bot be used to and wonder why he feels different! In my opinion, it helps but is not a magic wand to take away all behaviours, you may find his asd is heightened (this happened to my younger lad his asd side became so obvious) and it generally takes a few weeks to work at optimum level, your son may be a bit more emotional for a while, you can stop it if it doesn't work out for him. </p><p>Good luck</p><p>Mum25</p>