Expert: Paul Johnson - 12/17/2010

Question
my son was diagnosised with Autism PDD when he was 3 and now with Aspergers.When he was a baby and got excited it was full body shivering/movements and finger flicking. Now it is very obvious and big hand flapping along with his mouth open and sometimes hisr right leg shaking. He started taking Strattera and it;s been 5 days now.
what does it sound like to you? Are we on the right meds?

Answer
Hey Renee,

Thank you for your thoughtful question.

The body movements that you describe are consistent with Autism as such they are a part of him.
As such the challenge will be to reel in some of these movements so that they are not so obvious and distracting.

I would have liked to know how old your son is and then I would be able to offer more specific age appropriate interventions. I think enrolling him in an occupational or physical therapy treatment regime would be the most beneficial.

Honestly I do not use much medicinal approach in my practice. I am a bit puzzled how a medicine that is best known for treating ADD symptoms is supposed to treat his body movements.