Autism-World

Q: I am sitting at my desk in tears right now. My son is almost 8 and he is autistic. He is non verbal and has been extremely hyperactive over the past 6-8 months. He used to be very aggressive so we had to put him on Risperdal, which helps so much with the aggression, but does nothing for the hyperactivity. He’s so impulsive and rough, sometimes he hurts my other children by accident.

Anyway, we started him on Adderall to help calm him down, and it works ok until it wears off. But since he has been on the Adderall, I just can’t do anything with him at night. He refuses to go to sleep even though he can barely keep his eyes open. He has never slept in his own room because he craves being next to someone so he always comes back to my room. For the past 3 nights he has been basically attacking me and my husband. He lays in our bed and grinds his head into our backs, pulls my hair, scratches and claws at us, drops his dead weight on us (he’s a very big boy). He pulled my hair so hard last night that he ripped some out. When I tried to get out of the bed to get away from him, he grabbed my shirt so hard that he ripped it. And on and on and on.

He takes Melatonin but even that doesn’t seem to be helping his autism.

Answer: Have you spoken with a behavior specialist(autism)? First I would try to identify why your son isn’t going to sleep. If you do feel it is related to the new medication you may want to discuss switching to another medication. It is great to get some peace in the evening, but if he isn’t sleeping the long term effects for everyone involved may outweigh the benefit you are getting in the evening. All drugs affect children differently and it may be a factor to consider. Melatonin often works well in children with autism and sleep but if other drugs are interacting with it then it may be less effective.

The only other thing I can think of off the top of my head is to get a bedtime routine that is the same in the evening, perhaps with a picture schedule to go along with it. This could include a bath or other calming activities. Watch the energy level in the home around bedtime. Are all the lights on and the tv blaring? Try turning down the stimulants like tv and lights, turning on some quiet music and giving him a bath, then reading a story in a quiet relaxing voice.
Good luck.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 at 9:41 pm and is filed under Ask and answer.