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Comment by mikeryan | Hacker News Reader

Am I missing something here, is it the only upside that the kid is less aggressive on Marijuana? The kid sounds stoned. Even the parents admit "his autism has become more distinct".

I feel for the parents - autism is a very difficult issue to deal with but this seems to be helping their problem more then their sons.

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I think the only other upsides mentioned in the article is that he has stopped eating his clothing, that he focuses on eating real food now, and that he washed his own dish after eating.

Basically, it would appear that the upside is that his lessened aggressive behavior is allowing him to engage in more constructive behavior.

But you are right. We have to wonder if the marijuana usage is doing more for the child or more for the parents.

Unless it's harming the child, which, apparently it's not, I see no reason to stop the treatment if it's doing the child any good whatsoever, no matter how big the good it's doing the parents.

Since autism is a psychological problem, the effectiveness of the medication should be judged based on how the underlying thought processes are changed. The behavioral outcomes are only a proxy for what's going on inside the child's head.

From the sounds of it, one of the biggest improvements for the son was the elimination of his habit of eating nonfood items, which seemed to occur on a near daily basis. So I am sure avoiding all of that pain was a big plus for him.

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