Jason C Bourret, Ph.D., BCBA
Jason C Bourret, Ph.D., BCBA
Male
Specialties:
autism
It sounds like you have concerns both about the source of your son's communicative deficits and with the diagnosis being made by your doctor without taking his hearing loss into account. Hearing deficits in young children can translate into deficits in speech as well, so it may be that your son should not have a true differential diagnosis of autism. You al...
It sounds like the problem you are facing with your son is that he is able to correctly answer questions given some cues but not others. In other words, given just a card with the word “tree” written on it and the prompt “what does this say?” your son might not be able to answer correctly whereas, if he was three different cards with a different word...
Your son's age is one that can be particularly difficult even without having to handle the challenges that your son seems to be facing. It sounds like your son is on medication that has been successful to some degree but not completely successful and that he is in counseling that you are not finding effective. Behavior therapy alone or in combination with m...
A side effect of Paxil is decreased sexual interest or trouble with sexual functioning, so this may be the direction that your doctor is going with this medication. Masturbation and increased sexual interest are very common at your son’s age, so what you are experiencing is not atypical. I don’t know your son, but I get the impression that he is quite h...
Adderall (mixed amphetamine salts) is a stimulant that is commonly used to treat ADHD. Nervous habits can be a fairly uncommon side effect of Adderall, however, this is commonly something like skin picking or nail biting. I can’t be certain that the increase in perseveration that you are observing is a function of the medication but, if you are concerned ...
It sounds like you are saying that your son was having involuntary movements while on Risperdal, he was tapered off of the Risperdal, and you are seeing behavioral effects of removing the medication (i.e., him seeming very angry). Shaking of the hands and fingers can be a side effect of Risperdal. Tardive dyskinesia is also a very uncommon side effect. Som...
