Be sure to look up your local Child Find program, usually through your county school board, asap. It might take three months to get the appointment for initial assessment, but then after that they may be able to provide services (such as Speech Therapy, Occupational therapy, behavioral if you are lucky) relatively quickly.

@A MyAutismTeam Member A friend of mine has the exact same experience with her son (PDD-NOS) and his medication. It works well for a couple years and then they have to switch.

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A MyAutis...

Medication has helped my son with focus and distractibility. Our experience has been that a medication will work for about 2 -3 years and then seem to lose effectiveness even with dosage increases. Then a different medication is tried and that works for another period of time.

Be patient as you begin and be prepared to keep track of possible side effects to report to your physician.

We had good results with Strattera. My develpmental pediatrician said that stimulants tend to aggrevate children with autism (ritalin, focalin, adderal) So we went with strattera. Good luck

My son Liam starting taking medication in Kindergarten, shortly before he turned 6. It took us several trials to find a good combination of meds for him but it was worth the effort. It helps a lot with his hyperactivity and focus. It wasn't a magic pill by another means but it does make his life, especially at school, easier than it would be otherwise.