16yr old autistic son--acting funny

May 10, 2007

I have a 16 year old son, Tim, who was diagnosed with autism in 1993

when he was 2 years old. He is mildly autistic, with good verbal skills

and high functionality--he writes stories, can communicate with others,

and can take care of himself to a limited extent, including buying food

for himself, and responding to questions/commands.

He has a twin brother (fraternal), Philip, who was diagnosed with

autism as well, his case was much more severe: though he had limited

speech capabilities by the age of 2, he stopped talking soon after. Now

Philip has no verbal ability. Philip has been undergoing chelation

therapy for over a year and has shown marked improvement.

Tim underwent chelation from june to august 2006, then he began

having trouble: he lost weight, pergormed poorly in school, talked to

himself, was less responsive to others. I took him off chelation, and

he seemed to get even worse. Two weeks ago Tim went to the hospital

because he was hyperactive: he talked frantically to himself, seemed to

live in a fantasy world, claimed to communicate with aliens, ate less,

drank less, stopped bathing himself. He recieved a psychiatric

evaluation from Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, but they agreed his

behavior was odd and unpredictable, but cleared him of any mental

disorder. They recomended once daily doses of Risperidone (0.5mg) to

calm down his hyperactivity. That drug seems to knock him out, he can't

perform in school, and sleeps during the day, stays up at night. He

still thinks he is talking to aliens, but I don't know if he is doing

it for attention, or if he has recceded into a fantasy world because he

doen't have a good social life. Also, in general he seems to have

improved a little, but not completely. He still acts strange. I'm

afraid I don't know what to do: should I begin chelation? Will it help?

I'm very scared, and very worried. I don't know what to do for him.

Please help. I read Andy, please if you have any advice

to give me, I would appreciate it. Thank you.

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