a...Dr. Capone's workshop

[Guest guest]

Hi, Everyone....a....I have never had Gareth to see Dr. Capone. He is

one of the leaders for dual/dx'd kids, but there should be others (ped. psych,

etc) in your area qualified for behavioral issues and medicines. In the

workshop last Sat., Dr. Capone listed reasons for medications.

*Severity or duration of symptoms

*Self injury or injury to others, aggressiveness, agitation

*Lack of adequate response to other treatments

*hyperactivity, inattentiveness

*cognitive disorganization

*insomnia

*anxious or panic

*repetitive behaviors

As you can see from the list, our kids have many of these reasons. The

severity of each and the inability for our children to 'go forward' is what

warrants medical intervention. He explained the biomedical interactions for

cognitive function/behaviors and how having the DS gene (Trisomy 21) affects

the

Serotonin (mood, impulse), Norepinephine (energy, interest), and Dopamine

(drive, movement). Mood, emotion, and cognition are all affected. As I have

said many times in the past, putting Gareth on meds have enabled us to

'connect' with him and thus, address the behavioral issues. Risperdal is one

of the

proven drugs for autistic kids in general....not just dual dx'd kids. It's a

tough choice, but you have to keep the child in mind. Is Hannah

hyper......perhaps a low dose ADHD drug will do. If she's OCD, maybe only an

SSRI will

benefit her. Whatever you do, start at a low dose because many of us have

found that our kids can't handle regular doses. That makes matters worse for

Gareth. He just needs that little extra chemical that the gene doesn't

provide in order to function. Believe me, I lived with the guilt of putting

him on

drugs for years, but then a psychiatrist said " What's your (ME) problem with

it? Your kid needs the meds, just like if he was a diabetic. You wouldn't

deny him insulin, would you? " Dr. Capone listed all the meds for each

disorder....there are a lot. Perhaps if I get time, I will rewrite his list.

Take care, Everyone.

Margaret