Dbat, I'm PMing you details.
Dbat - there is no federally approved medication to "treat" Autism. There are, however, a slew of medications often used to treat the symptoms of Autism and co-morbid disorders. From the reading I've done, ADHD has a very high co-morbidity rate among those with Autism, and for some reason, non-stimulants have a higher rate of success with these children.
Correct: there is no "autism drug." However, people with autism very commonly have problems with attention and anxiety; attention can be treated with the meds that improve ADHD, and anxiety can be treated with SSRIs or other antidepressants (depending on family psychiatric history--one has to be careful about that).
One is treating some symptoms of the autism, not the totality of the autism, by giving these meds. The social deficits of autism will persist; however, relieving anxiety and improving attention can vastly improve a person's ability to access behavior therapy to improve social functioning and other issues associated with the autism.
Anxiety and attention mix in a complicated way. Relieving anxiety can calm down the brain enough so that it actually can pay better attention. Fixing an attention issue can help a person feel they're not missing stuff by drifting off in the middle of something important, which can make them feel less anxious. Seeing only an expert prescriber who really takes the time to understand the patient is very very important to figure out how best to treat the particular symptoms.
DeeDee
