And as much as older children crave autonomy and independence, engage them in collaborative problem-solving, giving them a voice in finding solutions to challenging situations.

“It’s possible the doctors are prescribing them to manage the behaviour, but there’s very little evidence that these drugs work in these situations,” says Sheehan.

Doctors are resorting to powerful psychotropic drugs, such as antipsychotics and antidepressants, to calm patients with intellectual disabilities – even if they don’t have a history of mental ...