My Autistic Daughter is Going Through Puberty

By Dana Meijler
 

While the world of autism is talking, blogging, and arguing about Autism Awareness Month, over here we have been dealing with another kind of awareness. One in which autism, like with a lot of other things, brings challenges, not just to Maya, but to me as her mom.

Puberty.
A few months ago I wrote a post about how I and everyone around me were noticing changes in my daughter and my fears about how to talk about it with her.

She’s still so much of a kid, a kid that plays with stuffed animals and likes to hold my hand. As hard as it is for any parent to acknowledge that their babies are growing up, I do think with an autistic or other special needs child, the regular bittersweet feelings and fears are also accompanied with big-fat-scary-fears. Fears that your child will not understand the changes going on physically and emotionally, fears that the social implications of puberty will leave them even more vulnerable and unprotected. Fears that the process of growing up will wreck her innocence and that she will end up hurt, confused, jaded, and withdraw back into a world of her own. Fears that the hormonal surges might manifest itself in behavioral challenges difficult to overcome.

Still, a few months on from my post, M is still developing. I spoke to our doctor about it and he told me that although she is young, she is still within the confines of normal development and that there is nothing to be concerned about. He told me that it was possible to slow down the process through hormone therapy but that generally he didn’t recommend interfering with the body’s natural rhythms. I thought it was good that he asked me how the kids in school and around her were reacting to the changes, whether there was any teasing or bullying going on because in that situation, we may want to consider whether to slow things down a little. He did tell me to be on the lookout for changes in Maya’s behavior; if she withdraws or starts acting out a lot it might be a sign that all is not well in her social world.

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