Blog Outline -
There are no specific "Autism Medications" but many medications can help with comorbidities (other conditions that commonly occur with people on the spectrum).
Using small candy can be a way to teach a child to swallow pills.
An area that brings many questions is about medications and Autism. There really are no "Autism Medications" but because there are so many comorbidities (other conditions that commonly occur with people on the spectrum) that sometimes medications can be helpful.
One question that we see often on the social groups that we are a part of is how to help your child take medications. This can be to treat an acute illness like a cough or cold or something more long term for maintenance medications.
We learned early on that most liquid medications had difficult flavors that were hard to get Ben to take. There are extra flavorings that you can request from the pharmacy but again, they are trying to mask a pretty strong taste of the original medication.
We were told to teach Ben to take pill forms of medication by practicing with Tic Tacs. These are shaped like many pills but if they don’t go down with the first try, they have a pleasant taste and make it easier to learn the skill of swallowing the pill. Mini M & M’s are also a good shape and size to work with.
Once Ben got the hang of it, he was a pro! Taking his daily meds were no longer a challenge and ones needed for treating a shorter term issue were readily available.
An area that I wish I had been better at would be in keeping records of the medications that Ben had tried through the years. In the moment it made perfect sense that something worked or didn't work and we would move on to something else. Now looking back it is hard to remember the reason why we made some of the decisions that we did regarding starting or stopping a particular medication. A simple journal of the medication, dose, start date and listing of any side effects would have been so helpful going forward when we had conversations with other health care providers.
Anything you can do to stay organized and document will serve you well in the future.
Love you more,
Mom
Commentaires