Clonidine and tenex for 7yr old with Aperger's Syndrome

My Son is 7 yrs old and has Asperger's Syndrome. He has been taking Clonidine at night. It helps him sleep but does not help much with his nervousness and outbursts during the day. He bites his hand and now has a raised scar on his right hand and in the last 2 weeks has started biting his left hand. He is high functioning and very intelligent. He just seems so anxious. His doctor has now put him on Tenex 1 mg to be taken in the morning. He will still take his Clonidine at night. I worry about his blood pressure. He is a big kid (85lb) . Has anyone seen really positive effects from the Tenex?

[Jason C Bourret, Ph.D., BCBA-D]

Tenex is a medication that is sometimes used to help treat behavior problems but there is no way of knowing how much it may or may not help in your son’s case. Applied behavior analysis provides the most effective intervention for the types of tantrums and self-injurious behavior that you describe. My recommendation is that you seek out a board certified behavior analyst in your area that has experience treating behavior problems similar to the ones your son presents. These behaviors can be effectively treated and, based on how you describe your son, I would predict that he might respond quite rapidly to systematic behavioral treatment.