To medicate or not to medicate.....That is the question.

                Autism support groups via Facebook are wonderful and full of supportive inspiring people who take time from there day to sit down and really care about how others are facing challenges. Some offer advice as best they can and some just let you know they are thinking of you. Both are encouraging in every way, especially if a parent doesn’t have very much understanding in their personal lives. I have met some truly amazing people on these groups, both living with autism themselves as adults or raising a child with the difference.

                Every once in a while something happens that I think gives everyone in the group a reason to feel frustrated or upset with someone else for an opinion they don’t like. It really doesn’t happen often but when it does the tempers flare. It can range from a small disagreement to one that everyone could say something about but no way to keep from offending another group member so best to stay out of it is probably the general opinion. There are also those sick minded low life Facebook prowlers who may pose as an autistic person and will mock the difference toying with a parent’s desperation to care and help. I can only guess a person would do this for the gain of personal information or self entertainment. I won’t dig much further into that because a situation like that makes me feel a strong desire to vomit.

                Yesterday there was a debate regarding medication. Interesting topic to me because when my son was first diagnosed one of the first comments made to me by many people was, don’t medicate him. Always caught me off guard because the thought had never even crossed my mind, nor did my doctor ever speak of it. The debate was, one parent said don’t medicate and another felt she had to. Needless to say the debate got ugly but a comment was made that actually did put me on the defense for a moment. This woman stated something along the lines of; parents who don’t support medication don’t understand what true autism is. When I read that I was actually offended because I didn’t know there was hostility from parents towards the different levels of autism and this is just one person. I asked her if she could clarify what that meant and she did. Still a little hostile but when I really tried to wrap my mind around her situation I could literally feel why she felt this way. True autism may not have been the best choice of words as it was more the severity of issues she has faced with her son. I could understand why she felt a bit hostile reading other parents challenges that maybe in her situation would be huge progress.

                Its true many kids just don’t require medication to live daily but many kids really do and parents are forced to medicate to ease a child from different issues we may not understand. The emotions involved with having an autistic child are hard enough when it comes to society’s judgment but when you have no choice but to try different options that may or may not work,  I would think the judgment is even more difficult to tolerate. My heart breaks for parents and kids who are trying different medications and it ends up making a child worse and the parent isn’t heard when they discuss this with a doctor. They just keep trying because all they want is to see their child have peace. The again sometimes something really does bring the peace they are looking for.

                With so many questions surrounding autism and doctors having the same unanswered questions medication has to be an extremely difficult choice. There are so many what ifs or side effect concerns that you can’t answer until you try it. Even the doctor won’t know but when a parent has to choose between watching their child possibly hurt themselves and trying something that may work, it’s easy to understand why. An even harder part of the process would be to trust the person who tells you what to try because autism is a complete mystery.

                I personally wouldn’t medicate but in no way does that mean I can’t understand why someone else would. I would say true autism is every case diagnosed because you really just can’t compare one to another. Yes there are different severities but not one person who is diagnosed or one family who is challenged with it doesn’t face judgment. Aside from autism, human beings spend way too much time judging and not enough time understanding.