Medical Cannabis and Autism
When our son was diagnosed with autism a little over four years ago, I thought we would immediately start helping him. I assumed, so naively, that getting the diagnosis was all we needed to help him. I was wrong.
For years we paved our own path. No one told us what to do. We couldn’t find any other children like our son.
Our son had severe anxiety and rigidity. He self-injured. He had no understanding of safety or danger. He had chronic ear infections and extreme GI issues. He didn’t sleep. He didn’t socialize or communicate. We learned that he was severe.
We’d visit doctor after doctor. Try new therapy and diet. Nothing worked. But, we never gave up. We had to help our son. That’s all that mattered.
We saw no improvements, and only regression, until age six when we visited a Naturopath and added in eight supplements to his diet. We started ABA Therapy. We removed gluten and dairy from his diet. And we immediately saw changes. Huge changes.
After six short months our son started improving. He was sleeping, using the toilet, eating and drinking water. He stopped self-injuring and eloping from our house. He started joining our family. He even started communicating with his speech device. I was overjoyed. He was healthy. He was happy. He laughed and smiled.
But I knew it was only the beginning.
We still couldn’t leave the house. Our son still didn’t sit for more than a second at a time. He spent his time running, rolling, darting, flapping and screaming. With joy thankfully. But still, he seemed to be in a constant state of chaos.
I didn’t know how to help him. That is, until we learned about medical cannabis.
Today, our son is seven-years-old and is on the severe end of the autism spectrum. He is still nonverbal. His anxiety is still extreme. He is incredibly rigid. Leaving the house to go anywhere besides therapy is almost impossible.
He is also getting bigger. At 78 pounds, his Dad and I both know that we are reaching a point where we need to help him more than ever. Especially if we want to keep him home with us. Which is are goal.
Our son is also not medicated at this point. We have opted to not go down the medication route quite yet. Someday maybe. We are not against it. We just haven’t started yet.
So, on Saturday, we started our journey with medical cannabis.
It became legal for autism on July 1 in the state of Minnesota. The program is regulated by the Health and Human Services Department. We have done our research. We have talked to doctors and other parents. We are hopeful. We are excited. We are nervous. We just want this to work.
We are hoping to help our son’s anxiety and rigidity. And that he can safely leave our house some day. Go to a restaurant. Ride in a car. Go to a movie. We are hoping that he learns to sit and can eventually attend school. We are hoping that this gives him peace. And a sense of calm.
We are not trying to cure him…because I know someone is going to say that.
We love our son. We love his personality and his joy and his quirks. But seeing him in pain is crushing. We will do anything to take it away.
A few notes about Medical Cannabis:
- First, find out if cannabis is legal in your state for autism. Click HERE.
- Second, find a doctor that will prescribe medical cannabis for your child. Our Pediatrician would not. We visited a doctor who specializes in autism for the prescription.
- Third, work with the pharmacist and state to get approved for cannabis. I had to apply through the state and get a background check.
- Medical cannabis is not covered by insurance in my state. A bottle cost $80 and only cash was accepted.
- Medical cannabis is different than Hemp Oil, which can be bought over the counter. Medical cannabis requires a prescription. We started with Hemp Oil and saw no improvement in our son. But I have heard by MANY parents that Help Oil alone has helped their child.
Take a watch as I discuss the beginning of our medical cannabis journey:
https://www.facebook.com/findingcoopersvoice/videos/274416466723664/
I plan to update weekly on Cooper’s progress. Check back!
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I am thrilled this has been approved for your state and pray you receive the results you and Cooper deserve! I think of you everyday and pray for your families health and happiness!!
Is your son on just CBD or is there THC in it also? Many say the THC (at low levels) is necessary when it comes to dosing for anxiety. Also, is Hemp oil just CBD as I too know many parents who have tried that with various results? It is all quite confusing for parents and there seems to be little guidance from doctors.
I found Haleigh’s Hope customer service to give you all kinds of good information on CBD and how it relates to their products over the phone. I called them twice. Even if you aren’t planning on buying just yet, they were so helpful and may be able to answer your questions.
To Anon: Simply: Hemp oil is from the plant leaves; CBD is from the buds.(where the buds are concentrated with it.) Hemp has only ‘some’ cannibis’ in it, (There are also specific strains of the plants used to process the oil.
Is there any taste? My son spits out any medication we try to give him. He only drinks water. So hiding it in his drink is almost impossible. Can it be administered transdermally? Thank you for any insight you might have.
My Son is just weeks from turning 18. Severely autistic with grandmas seizure’s.
We live in Ohio and I really want to try medical Cannibus. I love our neurologist whom I have talked to about medical cannibus. He is not your typical neurologist in that he is very approachable and able to think out of the box. We have had my son on a waiting list with him to trial the cannibus befor it was ever legalized in Ohio. The problem is there is so much red tape etc before hospitals will ever be able to prescribe it and I feel like he knows the neurological aspect of my son and his seizures that I really want him to direct how much and which vehicle of administration to use as well as be able to go to him if we develope issues around the administration.?it’s so difficult to say yes and just as difficult to say no.
When we last spoke with our neurologist about going there he said he would love to direct us. But marijuana is much like wine. There is all levels of and degrees of good to bad and without knowing exactly what and where it was coming from he would not be able to give us the blessing of coaching its delivery. This makes sense to me so do I allow someone who knows my sons physical background less to direct me, trouble shoot??? Through the many years of experimenting as so many of you parents out there relate to. With our kids we have thought, well it can’t get worse, and yet, it can.
I also have a typical 16 year old son and have found myself just recently alone to raise them both from here. One problem that my exhusband and I struggled with for the last several years was that we tried everything under the sun that we thought could not cause more harm. We had him from the west coast to the east coast and back wit very little ASHA moments. It drained all of our savings, retirement ect. My husband reach a point of pure bitterness toward anyone or anything that claimed to have a potential problem solver. Feeling as if we were just being preyed upon because we loved our child and wanted to do whatever we possibly could. He tired out and excepted things to be the best that they can be. Now years later to want to escape the every day of our secluded life. I, although forced to slow down will never completely stop wanting to try anything I think might bring my Alex more peace and calm to his every day. I completely feel where you are with Cooper and I am in a place where I don’t have to feel the guilt of hoping for more. I just need to find the professional who can spearhead his complete physical conditions.
Thank you for sharing you life with all!
Melissa
It’s a good thing that cannabis is here to help autistic children reduce anxiety.
It’s amazing that after six months your son started improving, like you said. It’s amazing that his communication even got better. Medical cannabis could be a great option for my nephew.