In the News: Medication shows promise for Children with Autism

Featured on Dr. Gaston Weisz' School Psychology Weblog

In the news, NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health) research has found some interesting results relevant to children with autism. As stated in the science news article on the NIMH website, atypical anti-psychotic medications were found not to be harmful and may even be helpful in improving cognitive skills in children with autism in this study. The possibility of a drug that is helpful with autism is very exciting news although caution should be used with responding to one promising study.

In the source article, the atypical anti-psychotic medication of risperidone (Risperdal) had no negative affect on cognitive skills of children with autism, while it showed promise in leading to improvements in cognitive functioning, based on this NIMH-funded study published in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology. This medication has been used to treat aggression, self-injurious behavior and other serious behavior problems in children with autism.

While this study's finding is promising, the researchers caution implications are limited due to many of the initial participants not completing the study. The researchers reported that additional research is needed to determine how much risperidone may improve cognitive skills in this population.

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