Risperdal vs. Abilify

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Does anyone's child take either of these? My 7 year old daughter's issues are mainly in school. I don't have that many problems with her at home or when she goes to gymnastics, etc. Last year when we hit a crisis in first grade they put her in another school (for a smaller class) and she freaked. She was having huge tantrums and trying to leave constantly and this continued in a hospital day school that she eventually went to. Once they put her on Risperdal, she really seemed to calm down. She has gained a lot of weight, but did well in camp this summer and started school very well. Then right after we had her team meeting (beginning of December) she started to go downhill with episodes of aggression and fleeing. I felt a lot of it was due to this small class she's in which only has 3 boys in it. She refuses to go into the regular 2nd grade except for reading-she says it makes her "nervous" and she doesn't like changes. Since the aggression started we have

increased her risperdal-she got worse-then started Abilify-then increased it and she started acting really manic....crying one minute, angry the next...really weird. She also started having nightmares at night once I started the Abilify at night. The thing that kills me is we all felt she was doing great on the Risperdal as far as home and other settings and starting messing around with the meds because of school and of course there could be other factors causing these school problems. So now I have been told to bring down the Abilify to the original 5 mg. in the a.m., but I wonder if she should be on this or if we should go back to Risperdal or nothing. She has not been diagnosed with a mood disorder. She has hyperlexia and mild Asperger's, but she really does have the social issues and frustration with school work even though she is quite capable. I am at a loss....the school system is going to try and put her out of district. They can't deal with aggression or

fleeing and although it doesn't happen everyday, it is happening enough. Her meeting is next Wednesday and I am totally freaked out about it. I was just wondering if people have had experience with either of these meds. Thanks,

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