Why my child is not improving in speech or learning faster despite giving risperidone?

 Rule is:
Whenever we donot see improvement in any field in life, it just means efforts in that direction are not enough or even if you are making lots of efforts, the time given for the directed efforts is not enough !

Risperidone is one of the approved drugs for behavioural issues in autism. It is not for speech development. its job is to keep the mind and body steady to facilitate learning receptiveness. Developing or focussing speech without focussed listening / understanding/ thinking is like empty vessel making sound.

Autism is diagnosed by combination of social communication disorder SCD plus added behavioural issues. So there cant eb autism without behavioural issues. 
 So if a parent says, the child with autism has no behavioural issues, it just means that parents have not noticed or understood the behavioural issues clearly, or the kid doesnot have autism. Sensory issues are also a form of behaviour. Sensory issues do occur due to working on wrong senses without common sense. Repititive movements is also a form of behavioural changes. So is anxiety, fear and abnormal or age in appropriate perception fo enviornment or excitation in normal situations. 

In autism, behavioural issues are repititive and restrictive. thus affecting day to day learning.

Sensory, behavioural or stimming or restlessness or hitting or hurting are the various common issues that affect learning by making the child keep doing continuous movements. When all such issues are not there or not annoying or not disturbing day to day life of parents or child; the child is less dependent. the more it restricts the child, child is more dependent and at level 2 or 3.And yes, this is the reason why behavioural issues in children shouldnot be enjoyed saying child likes it; but should be modfiied or elliminated as much possible so that child can be more independent and better towards level 1 with better learning, understanding and quality of life.  Behavioural issues keep the child out of focus, attention and limit the verbal learning and socialisation. When we donot treat them, its annoying nature forces parents to stop by holding hands or restricting or shouting or saying no or engaging the child in some object or the child learns on own about the comforting object or movement . All these do affect learning. in addition,physical restriction often results in violence.  And this is what is treated or prevented  by risperiodne.  So inadequate dose means inadequate result.  with appropriate development of maturity or awareness of world, the child may use same understanding to use for similar social gains or immature behaviours, making the dose of risperidone to grow to some level for better control. Trust your doctor when he adjusts your doses. its safe.   Sudden changes, inadequate dose and frequent up or down dose can affect the behaviout turning child violent. With intermittent doses or when started new, the kid may sleep few hours soon after the dose. This sleep is required and can be adjusted to productive listening by adjusting doses with help of doctor. When you find child quiet, use the phase for verbal listening skills. A restless child or a violent child may mean the dose is not enough. Risperidone is one of the safest nonaddictive drug recommended in autism for behavioural issues.

Risperidone doesnt treat the autism (meaning the core symptoms of awarness/ connection/ communication/ relationship) but it does treat the behavioural issues, the visible symptoms of autism, to make life comfortable. 

The dose of risperidone needs to be started at small dose to increase weekly or monthly as per needs to get the control of behavioural issues to make learning mor more effective. Risperidone  helps turn the child receptive to learn. When risperidone gives a coolness of mind for receptiveness and poiletness, parents and teachers are supposed to help child generate common sense by learning gestures and words, with support of eye connection and listening inputs.

And this is what is the biggest mistake made by parents . when the child is receptive, instead of working on listening and verbal / gestural understanding; parents are misguided towards physical activity based engagements. 

No amount of  physical activity can generate verbal listening focus and understanding. In fact, even if little physical activity promoted, becomes permanent and teh same receptivenss instead of being used fo runderstanding common verbal sense, it is used for activities without sense; thus killing whatever time could have been better used for verbal understanding.

And this is the main reason why children donot develop speech; its just bcos work done on speech input for say story listening is bare miniscule comapred to work given to eyes hand and feet; actually diverting the child from input of verbal listening to physical out put.

we do not need a wise man here to tell that if you are not spending your maximum time on verbal input, you have no business to expect verbal out put. Isnt it?   

focus on input and not on out put , in the right direction.

jaise Krishna ne geeta me kaha tha:  Karm karo Dharm ki disha me, fal ki chinta mat karo. it means, keep giving goal directed quaility input and donot expect output, if you are doing correctly, out put will be there.
 Yaha Dharm hai Bhasha se Buddhi, so please haath paanv pe kaam mat karo.input in wrong direction  that predominantly working on hand and feet or seeing and doing activities, takes the kid away from Language based learning understanding and most importantly thinking in kids with language delay. Dr Kondekar