Risperidone, the first drug approved for children with autism and the most widely used, improves some children’s behavior but can have severe side effects, suggests an informal analysis of the drug’s use.
The drug effectively treats the explosive and aggressive behavior that can accompany autism. “It has pretty big effects on tantrums, aggression and self-injury,” says Lawrence Scahill, professor of pediatrics at the Marcus Autism Center at Emory University in Atlanta, who has conducted clinical trials of risperidone. The change can be dramatic, he says, taking effect in a matter of weeks.
It has also been shown to reduce hyperactivity and repetitive behaviors, though the Food and Drug Administration has not approved it for those purposes1, 2.
Through these effects, risperidone allows children with autism to benefit from social services, educational programs and behavioral interventions, experts say.
“If you can’t sit still during speech therapy, you’re attacking the teachers, you’re not going to be able to take advantage of it,” says Christopher McDougle, director of the Lurie Center for Autism at MassGeneral Hospital for Children in Boston, who has studied risperidone use in children and adolescents.
