Expert: Paul Johnson - 7/23/2009

Question
My nine & 1/2 year old son has Asperger's, ADHD, & Tourette's. He Is on Straterra meds which he hates taking. We open the capsule & try to mix it with juice, pop, anything that disguises the taste. It is still a battle. He has even pretended to take the meds But Only drank the drink & hid the capsule. This is impacting his behaviour at summer camps. Today he was asked to leave because he was spraying water from his water bottle on other kids. Bottle was taken from him so then he drank water from puddles to spray on kids. He was made to leave the camp that I know he loves but consequences do not seem to mean anything to him. I have tried discipline, consequences, grounding, nothing seems to work. I  am a single parent who works full-time. I have noone to look after him if he gets kicked out of camps! HELP!!!!!

Answer
Hey Susan,

Thank you for your important question.
There are several questions here. I need to begin with expressing my bias against medication. However ethically it is a necessary part of behavioral treatment at times. I think your son is trying to tell you something. He has difficulty with medication and if his reaction is that profound, listen to it. I would begin considering placing him on alternative means of behavioral medication.

Your second question pertains to defiance. Your son is most defiance because he is either not being disaplined in an eggective way where he feels there are things that he would rather avoid and comply, or he is too young to want to change. The best advise I have for parents when they tell me about similar situations is to elicit an interest in him. Therefore when he wants to aspire to something he will have motivation to behave. You will have to insire him to express an interest in something

Lastly the camp is important but you should not be in a position of having to depend upon it. I would hope you become part of a community where you have support for raising him so if he is released from camp it would not be a disaster.