Are there any side effects of medication for autism? Does it affect the child’s growth and development? When it comes to medication, any medication has its own side effects along with its effects. However, for each child, the doctor must first weigh the pros and cons of the prescribed medication, first of all, the pros must outweigh the cons. Some of the drugs used to treat ADHD in children, such as stimulants, theoretically have an effect on the child’s growth and development, but in fact the effect is not very pronounced, and the same situation can be caused by the use of such drugs in children with autism, for example. Most of the children who apply these drugs, in fact, their adverse reactions are within the acceptable range.