The Use of Medication for People with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Studies from the graves of our prehistoric ancestors indicate that drugs have been used in an attempt to cure disorders or minimise suffering from the earliest of times. Waltz & Shattock (2004) reported on records, stored at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital, which showed that drugs were being used in an attempt to help people recognised as possibly suffering from autism over a century ago. Some of these attempts we would recognise as having possible benefits (cod liver oil, senna, and bromides, for example) but others (such as calomel) we would now recognise as being misguided.