My son Liviu (pronounced LEE-view) is 10 years old and has severe autism. He is on tons of medication. Normally, we crush the pills and mix them into pudding. He eats the pudding -- and the meds -- just fine.
However, last week he got the stomach flu and now associates the pudding with vomiting. I have tried to desensitive him by offering him plain pudding and different flavors of pudding (plain and laced); he still gags. I've tried using different people to give him the pudding. I've tried positive reinforcment (bite of pudding, bite of chocolate). I've tried witholding a preferred activity (no TV until you have one bite of pudding!). Nothing is working.
Due to his autism, Liviu has a high degree of anxiety as well as oral sensitivity issues. The medication that usually helps him deal with both issues is, of course, no longer in his bloodstream. This means that teaching him to swallow a pill is currently out of the question.
We have tried liquid medications. They have also been refused.
I would prefer not to debate the issue of medicating my child. With this medication, we have a child who is able to answer questions, use sponanteous speech, follow directions, hold conversations, pronounce words correctly, is non-self-abusive and poses no danger to other people. Without the medication, we have a child who uses only rote phrases, engages in echolalia, bites himself and attacks other people. We have made the decision to medicate him. Perhaps we can discuss whether or not this is the right decision at a future date.
Right now, I'm just looking for help in getting the meds into him.
WOW! I can't believe the number of ideas that poured in for this request -- plus all the support for me as a parent. Both were appreciated. The problem isn't solved yet but we are making headway. Here's what I did:
1. At the suggestion of his behavior therapist, we have begun to sprinkle it in all his foods. He usually doesn't get a full dose during the day but it is helping.
2. At the suggestion of his psychiatrist, we dropped the most bitter tasting med for a short time.
3. I have begun mixing it into his chocolate or strawberry milk. Since he knows that we mix those from granuals, he's okay with encountering chunks in his milk. He just thinks its Nesquik.
4. We gave some choice in the isue by usin a covert versus obvious approach. The pudding still comes out, with a little medication in it PLUS a glass of strawberry milk and a LOT of medication. He then can chose to eat the pudding OR to drink the milk. He's finishing his glass of milk (thus getting most of the medication) plus eating a little pudding to desensitize him. He loves being able to toss out the yucky pudding!
5. As the medication enters his bloodstream, he becomes less anxious and more willing to take medication through the obvious approach.
6. I found a compounding pharmacy who can make special order meds should it become necessary.
7. We changed location for giving medication to reduce association issues. One mom mentioned giving meds to her toddler when he was on a trike and eager to return to play. We offer a video game (highly preferred activity) and then sneak in the meds while he is engrossed.
Finally, one mom suggested that we make medicated candy drops by melting chocolate, mixing in individual doses of the meds into small amounts of chocolate and then placing those portions into candy molds. Then Liviu could eat the chocolate and take the meds. I have to find out if the medication will be altered by a slight heating and get the supplies but this looks like an ideal long-term solution.
THANK YOU!
Now that the crisis is solved, I am open to debating the medication issue.
I.
You need to put them in something other then products soft and smooth. Rice krispie treats. Homemade small poptart. small popcicle ice cube tray size. Peanut butter ball.
Good Luck.
I have seen applesauce work well for getting meds into a child. also sorbet sometimes does the trick too, if the taste of the med is really strong. Another trick I've used with autistic kids is to core a banana with a straw and put the meds in the middle of the banana, then have the child eat the banana.
My mom used to crush my pills and put them in a spoon-full of strawberry jam - never tasted the medicine cause the jam goes down in one bite without chewing...
V.
I.,
I'm afraid that I do not have any advice to share on how to medicate your child. But I wanted to say how much I admire you for all the efforts you are obviously putting into a very difficult situation. A few years back I lived in a co-housing community where there was a boy who was recently diagnosed as autistic. Up until that point he was misunderstood and the lack of patience adults showed with him was amazing. I am currently reading one of Temple Grandin's books and have a better understanding of why most adults misunderstand autistic children.
I don't believe in medicating children most of the time but I would not say that in your case. From what i read you may be doing the kindest thing for your child so that his world is not so overwhelming.
I wish you the best of luck in your efforts to get him back to status quo. The love for your child is very evident in your post and I am sure he is a very special person.
Best wishes,
C.
For a long time, I have thought that Vitamin B-12 would help Autistic children. It helped my nine year old daughter overcome depression, and also frequent pneumonia attacks.
It was in tablet form of 25 mcg of Cobalamin Concentrate. That was in 1967. Since then, it has been almost impossible to get B-12 as Cobalamin Concentrate as it has been replaced on the market as Cyanocobalamin which does not work at all when taken by mouth.
Recently My niece gave her 9 year old daughter Methylcobalamin 1000mcg in a lozenges form. It snapped her out of a severe depression ten minutes. She is continuing to give her one lozenges a week. They dissolve in the mouth or can be crush and given in juice or some other liquid.
The only source I have found is The Vitamin Shoppe Catalog. (not available at their on line store)
The catalog address is:
The Vitamin Shoppe
PO Box 1041
North Bergen, NJ 07047
HI-
How about applesauce or putting them in liquid like juice? I am sorry, I have no autism experience, but extensive experience with elderly and dementia (behaivor issues) and hope that helps. How does he eat? Can you hide it in cooked food for a time?
I am sorry society makes you have to take the time to put out the disclaimer regarding medications at a time when you obviously have enough going on. I am happy to hear the meds help your son.
Good luck-
M.
i really thought it was a great idea to stop on the bitter meds and it seems to be working, also maybe you can try doing it in a form of popcicles, or even jello pops
Hi I., I have a 2 year old that takes a ton of medicine (he has epilepsy). We also crush his meds and put it in food. The tastes may be different due to the age difference, but things that have worked for us are oatmeal, mashed bananas, apple sauce, jello, and his current favorite: whipped cream. He goes through phases where he likes something and then all of a sudden he won't take it anymore, so we play around with different sweet pureed foods.
It can be very stressful when kids won't take their medicine! I hope you find something that works.
Jam or Jelly. Mama always used that to put crushed up aspirin in for us to take the medicine.
We have used chocolate syrup and jelly. But those are pretty sweet for every day! What about yogurt? We make smoothies then freeze them. Maybe you could make mini smoothie popsicles? Good luck.
Can you try adding the ground pills to another food like yogurt or even mixing it in juice? Since he is older I suppose squirting the liquid to the back of the mouth won't work either. I hope others can give you the golden suggestion. Best of luck!
I.,
Luckily, I never had an autistic child to contend with, but no child enjoys medication.
Have you tried apple sauce? I have always made my own which has extra cinnamon. It was a special treat so meds went down like a charm.
I freeze my applesauce, as the children liked it a bit slushy when fevers hit.
Will he eat apple sauce or yogurt? Maybe he won't associate those to his recent illness and will take them. Or is it possible to grind the pills up enough to mix them in juice or water? My heart goes out to you, as I hear the frustration in your message; hope you find a solution soon!
When my daughter was little we use to to crush the medicine and put it in applesauce. They have many varieties, so hopefully he will like one of them. We also tried yogurt and jam.
What are his 2 favorite foods?
Does he like milk shakes or smoothies with bananas?
How about scrambled eggs w/ a little cheese, grilled cheese sandwich, pizza bread. Since pudding is smooth and cold maybe hot gooey cheese would be preferred.
Since he has older brothers that know him very well, what would they do? Sometimes siblings come up with the best solutions.
Maybe he's mature enough to smash to pills himself and choose what food he wants to mix them in or maybe swallow them with his favortie beverage. I'm sure you'll find a solution with the support of your family. Best of luck.
AC
Is there another food you could slip it into? Bananas always worked good for us, easy to put a pill in and they don't usually chew them up real well since they're slimey. Or peanut butter. I'd find something he really really likes and try to figure out a way to get it in there, depending on what is easiest to get him to eat.
Our son is almost 8 and also autistic and without meds is impossible to handle at home and at school. He takes the liquid medication though, as we started him on it at age 3 and he's used to it. (Risperidal liquid kind).
Good luck. I know getting the meds in him is a challege but without meds it is even more of a challenge every day for us, that's for sure.
I.: I've been working with autistic children for many years. Find a preferred food other than pudding. Try introducing a banana or ice cream. Find another food he likes, then crush up the medicine and put it in his food. He'll never know. I know autistic kids are picky about foods they will eat, so make sure it's something he likes. Good luck
Have you tried using applesauce or any of its varities? I know it comes with different flavorings, such as cinammon.
What does Liviu like to eat? Meds can be put into almost anything that's not a solid: hot cereal, applesauce, ice cream or make a puree of his favorite taste. If he doesn't chew excessively, you may be able to put smaller pills in a bite of cheese or other semi-solid. Although it might add bitterness, you could also try dissolving in almost any liquid - try something with a strong taste like cranberry juice.
Have you tried other things such as jello or cranberry juice? I don't know if he can tolerate either of those, but they have strong flavors that mask tastes well. Good luck and I hope your little boy finds something he likes again!
HI- Have you tried giving him gogurt? It's not quite as thick as yougurt and comes in some good flavors that your son might like and will mask the taste of the meds. my nephew has to take alot of meds and my sister has to switch up the things she puts them in and this was one of the things that works. Good luck and I hope this helps. Keep up the great work. Kristen Z
Medicine is always hard. Not sure if this will help or not because I did this with kids who had no back molars. If you slip your finger along the cheeck and press on the back wall of the gums it causes an automatic swallowing reflex. This takes two people usually as one holds and the other dispenses the medicine. However I have only done this with babies. And before everyone judges we learned this from the dr. and this medicine was vital to life for our child.
I heard also for older children buy sugar cubes and if its liquid saturate the sugar cubes in the medicine.
Good luck
HAVE YOU TRIED APPLESAUCE, JELLO, BANANAS, YOGURT, ICE CREAM, OR SOME DIFFERENT FOOD THAT YOU COULD MIX IT WITH? hOPE THIS HELPS.
Hi I.,
Couldn't you just throttle that flu for coming along and ruining what was working well!! An idea I had was to make milkshakes or fruit smoothies and crush the meds into that. If you have a blender combine some icecream, milk and topping (if you want it to be flavoured) and whiz it up. Alternatively add some bananas or strawberries to make it a fruit smoothie. A fun, fancy straw or a cool cup could make it more inviting. Good luck and I hope you find something that works soon.
Kindest regards, N. (mother of one little girl who loves milkshakes!).
Does he like ice cream or applesauce? I'm thinking of something with the same kind of creamy consistancy but easy to mix the crushed pills into. How about rice pudding, or even some juice?
I feel your frustration. I have a daughter with ADHD whom we have decided to medicate. On the days she remembers to take her meds, it's fine. The days she forgets, those days are hard to manage for both her and all of us.
I just started to homeschool her, by the way, and wanted to let you know since I read your "a little about me" blurb....and you are so right, humble pie all the way!
Good luck, feel free to email me if you need to vent anytime.
Hi I.,
My name is B. and I am a Special Ed teacher working with children very much like your son. I can really understand how difficult this must be for you. It sounds like you are doing all the right things but I can offer a few ideas.
First, you should check with your physician(s) (which it sounds like you have if you tried liquid meds), to see if there are any options or tricks they can offer. Perhaps there is a way to use gavauge or some other force feeding to get some meds in which will make him more ammenable to more in the future? It is a vicious cycle.
You don't mention if your son uses PECS for communications at all. We use that system in our class with children like Liviu (what a beautiful name!), and I do what we call "Toast Group" with them. In this group they use the PECS to request foods, which I dole out in small portions to encourage the interaction with the reward.
These PECS have pictures of their favorite food items and they either point at or hand me a copy of the items they want. You obviously use a similar reward system (mention of candy) so the concept should be familiar. You would best know what his favorite foods are and could find a way to "spike" those with the meds. Using this "choice" method he may be more willing to eat whatever it is he chooses.
Is he taking anything at all? Water, juice, cookies? Is there some way to sneak some meds in? If not, at some point he will need to take some water at least. Prep some with meds and flavoring (lemon juice, Tang?) and don't let him see you prepping it! Just have it there and ready when he can't refuse anymore.
None of this may help, but I hope something will! I feel your pain.
Good luck!
I have gone through the same with my son Josh ASD too... after the vomiting he stopped taking his Kefir... can't blame them, it is too resent...let him rest (it is a texture/sensory issue )... and change the pudding for juice!!! After a while he might go back to the pudding!!! Or you can switch protocol since this is not going to fly with him... I just started Sequential Homeopathy (after doing DAN then YASCO) if you need any help let me know ____@____.com and I am a rescue angel fror generation rescue and hope I was of help!!! If you need more info, just email me... love, G.. :0)
P.S. I have 2 ASD boys (2.5 & 4.5 years of age)...And currently trying to raise money for STEM CELL!!!
Hi I.,
First I want to say, isnt is some what sad that when we are putting a request on here, especially a deep one, that we have to first defend some of our decisions as a parent before we even get a response? I love this web site or blog or what ever it is, but we come here to ask specific questions and I personally dont feel other mothers should recommend medication or not unless you ask, right? Anyway, I am so with you on the not debating your madication decisions for your son. My opinion is you do what you feel is right and dont care if others are against it. Only you know what is best for your son... so more power to ya!
Have you tried a blended drink, like a smoothie?
How old was your son when he was diagnosed with Autism. If you dont mind me asking...
My husband is concerned that our 1 year old has it... I dont think he does, but at what can you really start to notice symtoms?
Well you take care.. I am at work and have to go..
I hope you find a solution to the medication taking... I will let you know if some thing else comes to mind.
A. P
Hi, I would try Ice cream, applesauce or yogurt. If the pudding is giving him the thought of being sick, then definitely try another food. The foods I listed are close to the same consistancy. Good luck
I feel your pain as I too have a child with autism. I'm sure you have already thought of this but perhaps you can find something else he likes (maybe Jello, mashed pototoes or in a drink he likes)My son only drinks water and I'm sure he would notice if we tried to put anything in it. Good luck and keep fighting the good fight!
Since your son has sensory integration issues my guess is that he has a preference for one texture of food, in his case mushy but not lumpy. Maybe there is another food he likes that is a similar texture and he would be willing to accept. I know it is only going to get harder the longer he is off his meds. Does he like milkshakes? Custard? Smoothies? I know it's tough. Good luck...
I work with special ed children for a living, and a great majority of them are autistic. Since most autistic children are on some type of medication, many of them with the oral sensitivity, fixation, and HUGE issues with texture , I've come across this problem more than once.
Does he like milk, orange/fruit juice, anything besides water that can mask the somewhat bitter taste of the ground up pill (you can even put some nestle quick in plain milk as both a reward and a great pill taste masker)? If so, grind up the pill and let it dissolve in the liquid. It seems to be the most painless way of hiding medication as they cannot SEE it and hardly taste it (most don't have the attention to notice slight flavor differences in liquid as opposed to food).
Good luck!
Is it just the pudding he refuses now or any type of food with similar attributes? Would yogurt or cream of wheat or ice cream work?
Since verbal reasoning probably isn't an option (After you eat/drink this your ____ feels better), disguising the meds is the easiest option. Maybe smoothies that can be sucked through a straw, mashed potatoes, or soup?
Good luck and you don't need to defend your choices. No one else walks in your shoes but you ;-)
chocolate syrup masks the flavor of even the worst meds. we couldn't use any of the suggested dairy alternatives, as it interferes with the action of the meds we give our daughter, but most choc syrup has no dairy component. it sounds like you are doing a great job. good luck!
When I was about 7-9 years old I had to take a lot of medication for cancer treatment. My Mom used to crunch it up and put it jam/jelly. This is similar consistency to the pudding but because it is fruit based and sweet it hides the medicine taste well. I don't know how he feels about yogurt but there are some amazing flavors out there that might work too. I don't know if this will work but I hope you find something that helps get you back on track.
I also have a child who has to take medicine and has trouble swallowing pills. I've tried applesauce, yogurt, oatmeal, ice cream, and whipped cream. They all worked great for my child. I rotate the food items so it's not the same thing all the time.
My only suggestion is to use applesauce or jam. I have always used these two to mask the medicine when my kids were just learning to swallow. Since the vomitting was associated with the pudding a new base to mix the meds in might work.
I hope this might work for you - Good Luck
I.
I know how picky children with autism can be when it comes to food but are there other food choices you can use to mix the medication with? An icy version of his favorite fruit juice, yogurt, peanut butter, oatmeal or can you mix it into his favorite drink?
Does he like ice? I know he won't swallow a pill right now but you can start the process of teaching him in the mean time by having him swallow very small ice chips off of a spoon and systematically increasing the size of the ice chip as he is successful. You can also add the ice chip to a spoon full of his favorite drink and have him take the spoon full of liquid with the ice chip, again systematically increasing the size of the ice chip.
Best of luck. I hope you do find something that works for him soon.
Hi I.,
We use applesauce to give our son his meds. Maybe there is another substance that the pills could be put in that he would like? Good luck!
C.
I agree with looking for another favorite food, whatever it takes, like ice cream or jam. Popcicles?
You mentioned he likes chocolate -- we sometimes do a dip for apples where it is just a bunch of chocolate chips, with a bit of milk / cream, and microwaved for a half a minute or so. it ends up being a nice chocolate sauce, and maybe you could crush the pill and mix it into a spoonful of that.
Honey might work as well.
Good luck!
Hi I.,
I want to say that I admire your patience and your 100% understanding of your son and what he needs. You are an excellent mother. I have a few suggestions that may help your son: You could take him out for a treat-like frozen yogurt/ice cream, or maybe a milkshake and try to ease him back into it. Maybe if he has a treat or special time with mom/dad, he would feel more comfortable trying something new. Also, applesauce or a berry smoothie can mask the taste of medicines. I hope that everything works out soon. Good luck!
Molly
I also have an autistic son, so I understand the challenges you face. I think that instead of trying to force the pudding back on him, see if you can introduce the medication in another way. Maybe yogurt, ice cream or other soft food that might hide the medication. If you are giving it to him in the mornings, maybe you can give him smoothies if he would be willing to try that. Also, you can try the liquid medications again- maybe you could try adding them to a small glass of orange juice or Kool aide or something else that might mask the flavor of the medication, but would be easy to add to it.
Good luck! I hope that you can find a new trick for getting him his meds.
How about trying to put in another food he enjoys to eat. My son is 11 and has problems with medication also, (doesn't like the flavor) like the chewables or liquid I give him a spoonful of peanut butter and something to drink after. Hope it helps.
I don't have any ideas for you, sorry. I just wanted to tell you , you sound like an awesome parent. Good job! Hang in there.
As adults, I think we don't say things enough. We might think something about some one but think it's too silly to say out loud. We need to hear it!
You must be such a strong person! You sound like an incredible mom.
Just had to say it.
Hi I., when my son was ill and needed to take his medication (bi-polar) we had to crush it up and put it into applesauce or even into ice cream. Good luck!!
C. - mother of two kids, 15 and 11. Also an Independent Mary Kay Beauty Consultant - so I get to stay home for them.
