Opting in for Autism medication is a BIG step and it is natural for parents to feel confused. Which is why we have this detailed guide on Essential Autism Medication Strategies for parents.
Here are a couple of questions that parents often ask on this forum in terms of working/collaborating with other people to get the best possible results out of medication therapy:
Q: How should educators and healthcare professionals collaborate?
A: It’s important to facilitate open communication. With open communication and mutual respect, clinicians, teachers, and family members can provide important and unique information to help guide decision making.
When working with individuals from different professions, it is important to consider the regulatory laws surrounding their work. For example, educational professionals must abide by the Federal Educational Right to Privacy Act (FERPA), while medical professionals use guidelines under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to protect patient privacy.
Individuals in the healthcare system who work with children with disabilities may use many of the same tools as educational professionals use for educational assessments. Therefore, with the proper releases, it can be helpful for healthcare professionals to receive copies of recent psychological evaluations, or scores from assessment tools (e.g., IQ measures or behavioral questionnaires). If school personnel are able to send these materials to the doctor’s office in advance, the burden on family members and teachers to complete duplicate measures is often reduced. Likewise, if a child has received an evaluation from a medical professional, it is helpful to communicate the results either via a copy of the report or a signed release of information so that the teachers and education professionals who work with the child can stay informed about the child’s medical care.
Q: How can parents collaborate with medical professionals?
A:
There are many avenues for collaboration.
- Prioritize the problem behaviors for treatment; it is difficult to start and continue multiple medications for different purposes at the same time and even more difficult to know when to stop or to attribute side effects or effects to one or the other or neither.
- Inform the prescribing clinician about effects you are seeing, or any untoward symptoms.
- Keep a log (either paper or electronic or using forms given by clinician).
- Notify the physician of any medications you are giving, including herbal, over-the-counter, and CAM.
- Inform the clinician about interfering or important events; including new stressors, changes in life situations, illnesses etc., that may alter the behavior.
- Educate yourself about medications, their use, and side effects from fact sheets, drug information from the physician, or reputable medical websites.
- Have med list and action plan in case you have to deal with doctors unfamiliar with the child’s condition.
I am Ash and I celebrate Neurodiversity! Growing up with an elder brother with severe Autism was tough – but it has also taught me essential life lessons. I don’t believe that people with Autism are necessarily or have any disorder (except in extreme cases). They are just different! And that is something to be proud of! I am passionate about helping other families who may have Autism conditions in their family. So please reach out and drop me a note. I will be glad to help 🙂
