A lot of parents here have gone through the same issues, but something that works for one child might fail for another. Some kids make great progress with ADHD medication, while others might be unchanged or worse.

If you are looking to try things that are (more or less) safe before considering medication, there are a few common recommendations:

1. Decrease carb intake, particularly sugar. Doctors will tell you that sugar does not make ASD kids hyper, and for some kids, they are correct. For other kids, though, the "sugar rush" is a visible after-effect of nearly any soft drink, candy, or dessert.

2. Cut down on gluten, (and eliminate it if you can). Be your own judge. If it doesn't make any difference, then add it back. No since sticking with something unless it helps.

3. If that (GF) helps, try to cut out casein as well.

4. Eliminate food dyes. Doctors will tell you that food dyes have little to do with hyperactivity. In our case, at least, I believe they are incorrect.

5. Probiotics. Probiotics help fight yeast overload, which contributes to ADHD.

6. Magnesium supplement. Start small and keep a log. For some kids this helps, and for others it makes things worse. (Same with Zinc, Biotin, and vitamin C. Try each one separately.)

7. Exercise, exercise, exercise. There is plenty of scientific proof for this one. My wife walks my son a half mile to school each morning. I can't say that it eliminated the need for medication, but so far we have managed to go without medication.

We tried suppliments with both children and none worked. We had them tested for all kinds of things and everything was negative as well, so was not worth the money we spent.

My son is on a low dose of adderal which he has been on since 4 and he is almost 10 now with no side affects. This allows him to concentrate and it has done wonders.

My daughter is 9 and still nonverbal and is on a few meds, that we use to take the edge off aggression and self Injourous, but her communication skills are from sign language PECS and a speech tablet. She can speak about 8 or so words but it is enough to get her point across without being frustrated.

Jenny, our almost 4 year old was similar with no eye contact back in December. Then we started him on a gluten and casein free diet. It's also additive and colorant free. If hyperactivity is an issue, have you looked into the Feingold Diet? It is prescribed to many kids with ADHD along with the GFCF diet. That's just the start. Eventually, you'd add supplements like Vitamin D, probiotics, minerals and others. The theory (and it's working for us, so it's proven) is that these kids' bodies are overtaxed by foods that are toxic or allergenic; they cross the blood brain barrier and impact their attention, mood, sensory levels, etc.. And they can't absorb nutrients. So the strategy is to rid/eliminate/avoid toxins and provocative foods and nourish with vitamins and minerals. Your pediatrician will not likely know what to give your son. But if you can't go to a developmental ped who specializes in biodmedical tx of autistic kids, you could ask your regular pediatrician to figure out a therapy for your son's gut issues. And I'm assuming he has gut issues (bloating, diareah or constipation or both) because almost all ASD kids do. This is long, but if you're interested in biomedical therapy, please google TACA NOW. The parent-lead organization has been a God-send for our family. And no, they're not selling anything. Good luck to you.

One study showed supplementing with multi-vitamins was just as effective as Ritalin for ADHD in kids. It is a long list of supplements that have been shown to work for attention deficit, but I would recommend start with 1) cleaning out the diet (no additives, sugar or processed / junk foods), 2) Start with a high quality multi-vitamin (Klaire Labs or Thorne Research) and high quality fish oil first 3) specifically, add phospholipid complex including phosphodyl serine, iron, magnesium, cholesterol, zinc, etc. There are some supplements with combination of above that are specifically marketed towards ADHD (some with clinical trials), but haven't tried these.

@A MyAutismTeam Member, if going to the stimulant med route, maybe think about nicotine patch instead? Fewer side effects.

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A MyAutis...

Hi JennyT, my boy stopped speaking at 18 mos. and started back up at the age of 5yrs.. My reccommendation is to use some sort of communication system such as PECS, like I did. I was also told, that my son would never speak, but he proved everyone wrong, be patient, and make sure he's hearing conversation daily. I would also get Speech Therapy for him too, my boy got this as well. Take care of it right away, time is precious. Good luck.