Neurotherapy or neurofeedback can treat core issues like concentration in the brain. This solution was much better for my son because his brain was actually trained to be more balanced without masking the symptoms using chemicals (aka meds). His attention and language improved in addition to many other positive improvements.

Jill can you tell me more about neurotherapy and neurofeedback

Thank you all for your feedback. My son is 7 and non-verbal and has significant deficits with receptive language. We use an ipad as his communication system and app called augie. But because of his receptive language deficit we can only go so far with it. We are hopeful that if we can find something to help him concentrate a bit more perhaps we can get more receptive language understanding. Thus help navigate his everyday life better. While his father and I hate to put him on medication at such a young age we feel we have to try something. I hate making these life changing decisions. I always thought my biggest worry would be whether he would play football or baseball. Funny how things turn out.

We had my daughter on Risperdol and an antidepressant before putting her on Ritalin and it was helpful. It continues to be helpful but she is on a time-released form of the stimulant now (Concerta). Putting youngsters w/ASD on stimulants can be tricky as some can get very agitated or have other reactions that many pediatricians aren't familiar with. We found a child psychiatrist with lots of experience working with children with autism to prescribe our daughter's medications. Good luck!

Ritalin and those compounds didn't work well for us, either. We are all different, however, so because it wasn't helpful for us doesn't mean it won't work across the board. Let us know what you decide...