Retrospective review of clozapine in the treatment of patients with autism spectrum disorder and severe disruptive behaviors.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a serious childhood-onset disorder in which social and language development are primarily affected, with associated repetitive behavior and, in some patients, behavioral symptoms including aggression and self-injury. In ASD, risperidone and aripiprazole are the only second-generation antipsychotic drugs that have shown to decrease disruptive behaviors in large-scale, controlled, double-blind studies. However, in some patients, these medications are not effective.