When coping with autism, as with any other conditions, you may have many treatment options for yourself or your child. This includes educational, behavioural, medicinal, dietary, and sensory therapies. Unfortunately, for patients who are not well-off or do not have adequate health insurance, the cost of these services could be higher than they can bear. Monitoring the results of a medication over time is one way to ensure that you or your child receives the best possible treatment for autism. By determining which treatments work and which do not, you will avoid paying for unsuccessful treatments and redirect your resources to those that make a difference.

Before beginning therapy, assess the autistic person’s skill. To that end, several programs and organisations, including the Autism Research Institute, offer a checklist of evaluation points that concentrate on autism-related behaviour and illnesses. Autistic people begin to gain functionality as they age, but keep in mind that any of the positive effects of his or her life are actually a result of the normal development process. Fill out the checklist again after two months and equate it to the first. Are there any significant positive changes in behavioural characteristics? If this is the case, it is most likely due to the medication.

It is important to start just one treatment method at a time. If you try all at once, the good and bad effects can balance each other out, and even if the result is completely positive, you won’t know which treatment method is causing it and which isn’t. Of course, previous research will help you decide which approaches to use, but since autism is such a complex and individual condition, these studies are not always useful. Furthermore, since certain drugs are so recent, research on their long-term effects is normally ineffective. Instead, it is a trial-and-error operation. Two months is sufficient time to investigate the variations of an autistic person undergoing a new therapy. If you do not see good results after two months, you should stop using that form and invest your resources in more effective treatment options.

Remember that you don’t necessarily need to wait two months until deciding whether to proceed or discontinue a treatment process. If the side effects of a drug, for example, are messing with the patient’s life in an unbearable manner, the procedure should be stopped. You can also make ongoing treatments based on immediate positive responses—just remember to keep track of the various methods. Autistic people, like anyone else, develop and age, so therapies can no longer be effective after a certain period of time. Consult your doctor before doing something new to ensure that you are as safe and secure as possible.