With severe autism, even small victories can make a huge difference.
By Leslie Lussier
How many of us spend part of every day crushing pills, mixing the dust into various foods, and hoping that our kids get at least most of the medicine they need? Pill swallowing is a critical skill for our kids, but can be hard for many of them to learn -- we worked on it with my son for many years, on and off. The secret to our success was mung beans.
Our struggle was finding a pill substitute to use for training. We had tried tic tacs, m&ms and other small, hard edibles but they never worked as a pill substitute because my son always recognized them as tasty treats to chew rather than to swallow whole. I then purchased empty gelatin capsules. These capsules were tough to fill with a edible substance like flour but too light and melted on the tongue quickly if used empty.
Mung beans, however, met all the criteria needed for a fake pill. They are small, very hard, edible and not tasty. They come in several sizes, so I was able to find a bean that was very close to the pill we needed him to swallow. And, with the help of the ABA therapists at his school who worked with him daily, he learned how to swallow a pill using the mung bean as the substitute for the pill at school. When he mastered the bean at school, I was able to use the same steps at home, substituting the actual pill for the bean.
Now when a doctor talks to us about medication for our son, we no longer have to ask “does it come in liquid form?” or “can you crush it?” or worry that a crushed pill will overwhelm a spoonful of applesauce or yogurt with a bitter taste. We can give him any medications now, any pills of all size and shapes. A small victory, perhaps — but it has really made our lives easier!