I just read an article in the Autism Speaks website and I thought I should share and comment.
Risperidone and aripiprazole are the only FDA-approved behavioral medicines for children on the autism spectrum but both are associated with serious side effects of particular concern: unhealthy weight gain.

For some children with autism, behavioral therapy isn’t enough to reduce serious behavioral problems such as tantrums, aggression and self-injury. In some of these cases, parents and doctors turn to risperidone to reduce these problems and enable children to participate in education, social activities and family life – and even achieve a degree of independence as adults.

The article talks about a new in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry that confirms growing concerns that the weight gain associated with risperidone can have unhealthy consequences. These include significantly increased risk for insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome, which in turn predispose to diabetes, heart disease and liver disease. Aripiprazole, which is also associated with weight gain, may be no different, but was not evaluated in this study.

Lawrence Scahill, of the Emory University School of Medicine and Atlanta’s Marcus Autism Center discussed with Autism Speaks about how in the future research might open up safer and more effective treatment options. Dr. Scahill is a leading scientific expert on behavioral and pharmacological treatments for autism.
A NIH funded study has shown that children age 3 to 7 with ASD and behavioral problems can benefit from parent training and child therapy ALONE- meaning NO DRUGS.
Dr. Scahill has conducted a parent training study including 180 children. It was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Thanks Autism Speaks for informing professionals and parents about this study! I will follow up on this.