Why Would a 9 Year Old Be Given Coffee Regularly?

Some people with autism respond well to stimulants, like Adderal, Ritalin, and caffiene. Caffiene is generally readily available, has minimal side effects and if it works to help him function, more power to them.

My uncle has Aspergers, which is a mild form of autism. He drinks a cup or two of coffee every morning as well since he was a child. His case is fairly mild, but you can definitely tell what days he hasn't had coffee. He is super anxious, and just fidgety. The coffee has a calming effect on him... it's not as strong as prescription drugs, just enough to take the edge off. As long as the kid isn't sucking it down all day every day, I don't see it being too much of a problem. I have to laugh, because I used to know a woman who would freak out over kids drinking caffinated pop, but allowed her kids to drink 5-6 cups of hot cocoa every day in the winter. I doubt I would do so much pop... but at least it's diet. It could be that the coffee has too much caffine in it to let him have more than one cup... but the pop isn't as 'strong' so they give him that to keep him calm. I wouldn't see that as a problem either if the parents make healthy choices in other aspects of his nutrition. (although I agree that tea would probably be healthier...)

Caffeine does often have a calming effect on children, as do the ADHD drugs like Ritalin, which are stimulants that would actually hop up the average adult. I've known a number of parents who give their children caffeine for the beneficial effects on their behavior.

The effects tend to be brief, however, and the prescription drugs work longer. But if they're looking for short-term effects to help their son through particularly stressful parts of his day, it may be working well enough to allow them to avoid the prescription drugs.

Could be that they are choosing to use caffeine as a medication for ADD, or ADHD. Stimulants work to calm down kids with ADD / ADHD and help them focus and be still. Many parents dont' want to medicate their child - so some choose coffee and colas instead. It's really just another drug - but administered in a different form.

caffeine can center some people in the autism spectrum

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A certain amount of caffeine has probably been prescribed... as a mood stablizer.
Your nephews parents are just now learning many things on how to deal with autism and probably don't like talking about it because they "live" it constantly.
Visiting you should be a place that they dont have to sit and discuss their sons problems and therapies. Now that you know nephew drinks a tad of coffee, just make sure you make enough next time they visit but dont say "oh I made enough for jr too"..... I'm sure they dont want to be treated "different". Try not to analyze them and just be a fun place for them to visit. They need the normalcy and as many non judgmental people in their lives as they can get.

Caffiene actually helps calm kids with Autism ADHD-like symptoms.

It is true... my ex (he had manic depression and some other stuff like bipolarity) would drink caffeine and it would calm him down... I found out when we were doing jagerbombs with redbull and soon after he was calm, then tired, then after more went to sleep lol. Maybe that's why they give it to him.

Everything I've read suggests caffeine would make it to where an autistic child would be easily irritated so I'm not sure, he could be different than those claims obviously.

Caffeine is a stimulant, and so are all the prescription medications that are usually given for ADHD. My son is on the autism spectrum as well, and has a few other diagnoses that cause extreme "focus" on things such as ticks and picking at his skin. When he is having these issues, I am unable to give him his prescription meds, as he will sit and continuously pick at a spot on his face or arm until he is bleeding. (he doesn't even realize that he is doing it) Also, he will hyper focus on whatever other "tick" that he is dealing with, whether it is a cough, a humming, rocking, bobbing his nead, etc. The soda or coffee is a much less strong "stimulant" that allows us to get him to calm down and pay attention to what we need him to, without the hyper focusing on the ticks as he would with his meds. It can also calm him down quite a bit as far as his mood stabalization goes. Most kids and even adults with ADHD react differently to caffeine, since all the meds prescribed for that disease are stimulants, or amphetamines. Some parents simply prefer to go with a more natural stimulant than the medication since they are quite strong. The soda or coffee will be much less long acting, but they DO work. Another interesting item is that with these kids and adults, benedryl and other medications that would usually cause someone to be sleepy or drowsy can usually cause the opposite effect, and in my kids case DOES> It makes him VERY exciteable, and even overly anxious. Almost to the point of a panic attack. His heart rate gets very high, and yes, he gets a bit hyper. He cannot sleep at all when he has to take benedrly or most other cold medications. We avoid those like the plague!

A good cup of coffee, makes me sleepy.... I agree, it probably helps him to focus.

bottom line - they are private about it, they don't want people's noses in their business. most likely if he has issues they are doing this on dr's advice, and yes it is not unheard of for caffeine to have a calming effect on some people. none of your business really. sounds like a wierd relationship you have with these people though. wonder why they'd be so secretive about it?

I could live with the coffee, but the diet pop is nothing but garbage and no one should drink it! Tea has caffeine and would be soooo much healthier than pop of any kind, and the stuff in the diet does not have a good reputation either.

Well my brother who has had adhd has been drinking coffee from his early teens on (probably 13/14). The doctor suggested it for his hyperness, and for his migrains. He would have maybe 2-3 cups in the morning, and soda whenever he wanted it. It worked for him. Now at (almost) 40 he still has the same amount...sometimes more.
It's always worked for him to calm him, and keep him focused.
Hope this helps.

I can't imagine that the caffine is healthy for him... BUT one of my cousins used to give her ADHD (this kid actually was overly hyperactive... not just generalized as ADD) son coffee all the time. He LOVED it, and it really did wonders to calm him down. He didn't get it every day though, more as an occasional treat or if he was really off the wall that day. I personally wouldn't give that much caffine to a kid that age..

I'm not sure how you are defining "classic autism" because there is a HUGE difference between people with an autism disorder and children with ADD or ADHD. There are so many forms of autism, and I don't know why everyone is answering your question as though you said he has ADHD or ADD.

If his grandmother said it has an opposite effect on him, it probably does. There are a lot of "personality" disorders (of which I have had one my whole life, and I don't care to specify) and a lot of them respond to caffeine. When I am not breastfeeding, I regularly drink caffeine in the SECOND half of my day to wind down, especially before bed. I am currently breastfeeding and do not drink caffeinated beverages, so I am up much later than I would like to be (midnight, 1 am, and I have to be up by 7...I like more sleep than that, but oh well!)

Now, I wouldn't normally give a child any amount of caffeine. If it works the way it normally does, and makes him hyper, I think it's wrong. It makes me think of one particular child at my church, who is five and SO hyperactive...and his mother gives him a cup of coffee and it makes him ten times worse! So it definitely isn't some sort of general miracle cure for hyperactivity.

When I think about it, though, I drank pop when I was nine. Not coffee, because I didn't like it...but I also drank tea. I didn't have some sort of weird parents...very caring, stay-at-home mother, etc...but she let me drink these things and I don't think they had any ill effect.

I don't know...I guess it's their business. I understand your position, though, because I really hate seeing young children with caffeine and I don't give it to my own.

No good reason as far as I can think. But, just deal with your self. There is a saying - Require perfection in yourself and make excuses for everyone else. That gives me enough to ponder and work on so I don't have time to wonder about others.

I have heard that it can have the opposite affect. I have also heard that some parents instead of meds for ADD/ADHD give their kids a RedBull in the morning....

Whether this is all true I don't know...

There is a lot of 'information' out there that seems to indicate that caffeine can help a child with ADD/ADHD. Whether or not it is true, of course, I don't know. But many ADHD drugs are stimulants. So maybe that is where it came from... trying to avoid actual prescribed medication....

?

Supposedly Ritalin is a stimulant that somehow calms down people with ADD. I don't get it.
I know kids, including OBESE ones, who eat out 2 meals a day and drink pop nonstop. Why? M. and Dad find it easier.

Coffee has been used for children with ADHD. It "cancels" out the hyperactivity and actually calms them down. My son's doctor recommended it when he was younger...well Cappuccino worked better...and it helped him sleep better. I guess the same holds true for Autism.

I didn't really question it because at that time I would try just about anything. I know that if I have 2 cups of coffee, I'm sleepy. Works the same way with my son.

What bothers me is that this boy is given soda every day! Soda is so unhealthy! At least coffee is pretty good for you (unless you drink many cups of it a day). They need to stop giving him soda!!

1-2 caffeinated beverages is a pretty moderate dose for an adult--my doctor said that amount was okay even when pregnant/breastfeeding. If it is helpful for this child, it doesn't seem that excessive an amount. I'm not a fan of diet soda myself but I do drink regular soda. My kids very rarely get soda (and none with caffeine).

I've been a coffee drinker since I was 6 years old. My parents were huge coffee drinkers and I still drink alot of coffee and I am 42 now. I would drink anywhere from 3-6 cups a day at 6 years old. I cannot function without it. I am not autistic, but it helps me focus and makes me feel "normal." Without it, I just feel off. Diet pop though is not good for you. I recently read that diet pop is linked to memory disorders. I've also read that coffee can help with ADD/ADHD symptoms as well.

Hope this helps:)

M.

My daughter was drinking coffee at that age. She had neither autism nor ADD - she just liked coffee. It never did her any harm.

Stimulant meds are traditionally given to ADD kids whose parents choose to medicate, some supplement with caffeine. I'm not aware of this being the case with autism. My concern would lie more with the diet soda. Soda does not have significant caffeine, they'd be better off serving him tea. Also, the artificial sweeteners are not good for kids, and too much can cause seizures among other things - and classic autism kids are prone to seizure disorders. I wish they'd ditch the diet soda, it's not appropriate for children, autistic or not