Risperidone was effective and well tolerated for the treatment of tantrums, aggression, or self-injurious behavior in children with autistic disorder. The short period of this trial limits inferences about adverse effects such as tardive dyskinesia.

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Objective: Risperidone has been found efficacious for decreasing severe tantrums, aggression, and self-injurious behavior in children and adolescents with autistic disorder (autism). The authors report on whether risperidone improves the core symptoms of autism, social and communication impairment and repetitive and stereotyped behavior.Method: The database from an 8-week double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (N= 101) and 16-week open-label continuation study (N=63) of risperidone for children and adolescents with autism was used to test for drug effects on secondary outcome measures: scores on the Ritvo-Freeman Real Life Rating Scale, the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, and the maladaptive behavior domain of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales.

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The behavior phenotype of Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS) was studied by assessing behavior, social, and communication abilities, sensory hyperreactivity, and the deficits associated with autistic disorder. Fifty-six SLOS subjects, age 0.3 to 32.3 years, were evaluated by multiple age-dependent questionnaires and telephone interviews. Of the 56 subjects, 50 (89%) had a history of repeated self-injury: 30 (54%) bit themselves; 27 (48%) head-banged; and 30 (54%) threw themselves backward in a highly characteristic upper body movement ("opisthokinesis"). Forty-seven of these subjects were also evaluated by direct observation and by direct interview of the parent or caregiver. Of 11 subjects 10 years or older, three (27%) had a stereotypic stretching motion of the upper body accompanied by hand flicking. Additional measures showed sensory hyperreactivity, temperament dysregulation, sleep disturbance, and social and communication deficits. Nine of 17 subjects (53%) met the diagnostic criteria for autistic disorder by the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) algorithm questions [Lord et al., 1993, 1994]. Thus, SLOS is a metabolic disorder that can be associated with autism and other behavioral characteristics that define a distinctive and diagnostically important behavioral disorder.

Methylphenidate was often efficacious in treating hyperactivity associated with pervasive developmental disorders, but the magnitude of response was less than that seen in typically developing children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Adverse effects were more frequent.

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