Reply #15: I worked with a kid who was severely mentally impaired/Risperdol

[noonwitch]

She had been diagnosed originally with autism, because she had a lot of repetitive movements and no speech. She actually is brain-damaged, and very low-functioning. She was also hyper-sensitive to noise and other environmental factors, which led to the autism diagnosis.

Her doctor tried a lot of different meds to see which would work to help her focus. Adderal, Ritalin, etc., had absolutely no effect. Risperdol worked wonders with her. Even her dad, who was opposed to meds, had to admit that it was working very well. He was afraid that Risperdol would shut her down, like a lot of the meds that had been previously tried. It didn't.