Looking for advice...

I've got a post sitting in draft right now that's been there over a week. But this seems a bit more urgent, more important to share.

We've been trying to work with Ethan over the years in regards to his anxiety, frustrations, meltdowns, and behaviors. At 11, certain things have gotten better, and some have stayed the same or gotten a little worse. Jason and I decided a long time ago that we wanted to avoid medicating him unless absolutely necessary.

Today, we took him to see a neurologist, who asked a bunch of questions - most of which we've answered many times before, either to a school or another doctor - and then gave us some good insight.

He recommended one of two things.

1.) Put him on a low-dose of an SSRI - Prozac, to be exact - to help with his anxiety and to cope with changes to routine easier.

2.) See a psychologist for cognitive behavior therapy to learn coping skills.

Prozac, apparently, has very few side effects, and the side effects they see in some older kids (suicidal thoughts, etc) doesn't seem to happen with ASD kids. Also it's a very low dose that he would be given, only 10 mg.

The cognitive behavior therapy can take a long time to help, especially in younger kids and teens, but is a great tool!

Jason and I are currently discussing our options, though we have the prescription sitting here if we want to start it.

We are thinking the following:

Contact a psychologist and sign him up for the therapy, and get him learning coping skills. Meanwhile, to help alleviate the day-to-day anxiety on a more immediate time frame, start him on the Prozac, temporarily, and wean him off of it in a few months time.

Anybody out there have any suggestions or thoughts? Seriously, now is the time. I am all ears. I hate to see any of my boys struggle and this is the hardest decision we've had to make to date.