Self-injury in autistic teens.(care and treatment)

Bernard Rimland, PhD, gives an overview of factors that contribute to aggression and self-injury among autistic teens in a 2005 article for Autism Research Review International. Physical pain from migraine, chronic infection, stomach pain, and, oddly, hypersensitive hearing often underlies this behavior. Hypersensitive hearing is easily diagnosed because the youngsters cover their ears to protect against certain sounds. Hypersensitive hearing often increases during puberty. Rimland says that hypersensitive hearing is a symptom of magnesium deficiency. He suggests giving 4 mg of magnesium per pound of body weight (eg 400 mg of magnesium for a 100-pound person) with a B-vitamin supplement to help absorption. If the supplements do not help, he suggests the use of ear plugs or Berard-type auditory integration training (www.SAIT.org).

Magnesium and B6 may be helpful for another condition that has been linked to aggression and self-injury: nonconvulsive epilepsy (seen only on an EEG). According to Walter Alvarez, MD, nonconvulsive epilepsy is characterized by sudden explosive aggression, followed by expressions of remorse. Alvarez says that a small maintenance dose of the anti-convulsant ...