Do medications help self stim behaviors?

There are ongoing studies utilizing SSRI medications like Celexa to try to control self-stim behaviors. Unfortunately no results to report yet.

We're dealing with hand flapping and a hum during times of (happy) excitement. This is one of the major things that are causing children to "pull away" from my son. Currently he is on no medications, just natural supplements.

Has anyone used medications that helped with self stim behaviors such as hand flapping??

Hi DeterminedMom.

Just a quick caveat for all our readers: Remember that medications that work for one child may not always work for another. Reactions to medications can vary widely, which is why there is often a "trial and error" period (never a fun thing for families) during which a physician or psychiatrist will try to help you find if there is a medication that can provide maximum benefit with minimum side effects. Please do share your stories, but keep in mind that one child's experience is not always the same as another's.

We have a report on what medications families participating in the IAN Research project are using here for those of you who are interested:

http://www.iancommunity.org/cs/ian_research_reports/treatment_series_medication

In our case my child was burdened by compulsory repetitive behaviors, i.e. having to walk back and forth across the living room several times before being able to go upstairs. Got good results with prescription anti-fungals given concurrently with prescription anti-virals. First step though is healing the gut with enzymes at every meal. Expect regression for 3-4 weeks. Going gluten free/casein free I think was essential.

Hi KCL, and welcome to IAN.

I just wanted to comment that we're working on a report on special diets in use by IAN families, and the theories behind the diets. They are in widespread use, and many parents have provided enthusiastic reports.

So far, studies on the gluten free/casein free diet have been small and the results contradictory. The National Institute of Mental Health is currently conducting a clinical trial on the diet, however, so hopefully we'll have better information about the diet's effectiveness soon.

One interesting hypothesis: that the diets may be helpful for children with autism and GI issues but not for children with autism and no GI issues. (This would go along with the theory that a "leaky gut" and faulty immune response is involved in autism, and that the diet addresses this.)

Read the abstract here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15741748?dopt=abstract

This brings into focus the fact that the question is never just "Does this treatment help individuals with autism?" but also "Which individuals with autism will this treatment help?"