A whirlwind of emotions and triumphs

First, thank you to all who share your stories, it helps to know that we aren't alone. After finding out our son was diagnosed with pdd-nos earlier in the year, we then had him re-diagnosed and they concluded he was autistic. We met with a doctor from a practice called Intercept who diagnosed him autistic and they recommended we start him on Risperidone. So we started him with .25ml and we saw a major improvement the next day. We continued with the medication and bumped it up to 1.0ml. It has made a huge difference! He is more responsive, he has much better eye contact, he is not so clingy and he is saying more words.

We've been on it for two months and he is now maintaining this level and so we are curious what to do next. He will repeat words but does not know how to use them. He can barely put two words or even two syllables together. He also has figured out that we are giving him medicine through ice cream or his soy milk and now he is refusing to eat or drink and consequently is starting to revert. We've been reading a lot about the connection of vaccines to autism. We've read the Jenny McCarthy book and are pretty much convinced that something in the vaccine triggered autism in my son. My other son who is 20 months is also following the same path.

I'm sure you understand our grief and when I say our hearts aches, you understand what we are going through. Has anyone looked into alternative treatments? Does anybody believe that there is a connection to vaccines and autism. My son that is 20 months will soon have his 2 year check up and we do not want to get him vaccinated.

Thanks for listening.

Jake and Melyssa

www.lifewithpdd-nos.com