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Hello I am the Mother of an Autistic Teenager

lifeunfiltered560

New Member
Hello All,
My name is Theresa and I am the mother of an Autistic teenager. Although he showed signs of Autism his entire life, his pediatrician decided to ignore those signs and insist he only had ADHD until the day he retired after my son turned 13. His new pediatrician picked up on my concerns right away and immediately set him up for a testing session with an Autism Specialist.

This specialist not only confirmed my suspicions about the Autism diagnosis but also gave us a more detailed diagnosis. ASD, Intellectual Disability (given to him by the school psychologist), ADHD, Anxiety, Depression, Dysgraphia, Dyscalculia, Executive Function Disorder and Sensory Processing Disorder. About a year ago he was diagnosed, by his endocrinologist, with Delayed Puberty. He is 15 and doesn't have any kind of body hair or other changes related to puberty. He has been on testosterone shots for about a year and it has kick started his body changes but his bone age is still around 10 years old. His Intellectual disability gives him the mental capacity of an 8 year old. I am told this is never going to change and he may never be able to leave home because of his executive function disorder.

I found this forum through a blog on Wordpress and am interested in finding others who have been through something like this or something similar. I have heard stories from other mothers of Autistic children that puberty is worse for them (the meltdowns, etc). I'm looking for some guidance through these next several years. Just knowing I am not alone would be a huge help whether you are on or off the spectrum. I am always looking for more ways I can help my son. I look forward to connecting to others on this forum.
 
@lifeunfiltered560
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What you can do is type in LFA Children ,if you do that you might find some answers !as one of the parents with children home schools and I don't know how often they are on the forum ,but they might be today ,
Hope this helps
 
Welcome, Mother Theresa. I was an autistic teenager once, but I'm afraid I won't be of much help to you. You will, however, find that there are many lovely people on these forums who are parents to children on the spectrum themselves. I hope you'll find some comfort and advice here.
 
Hello All,
My name is Theresa and I am the mother of an Autistic teenager. Although he showed signs of Autism his entire life, his pediatrician decided to ignore those signs and insist he only had ADHD until the day he retired after my son turned 13. His new pediatrician picked up on my concerns right away and immediately set him up for a testing session with an Autism Specialist.

This specialist not only confirmed my suspicions about the Autism diagnosis but also gave us a more detailed diagnosis. ASD, Intellectual Disability (given to him by the school psychologist), ADHD, Anxiety, Depression, Dysgraphia, Dyscalculia, Executive Function Disorder and Sensory Processing Disorder. About a year ago he was diagnosed, by his endocrinologist, with Delayed Puberty. He is 15 and doesn't have any kind of body hair or other changes related to puberty. He has been on testosterone shots for about a year and it has kick started his body changes but his bone age is still around 10 years old. His Intellectual disability gives him the mental capacity of an 8 year old. I am told this is never going to change and he may never be able to leave home because of his executive function disorder.

I found this forum through a blog on Wordpress and am interested in finding others who have been through something like this or something similar. I have heard stories from other mothers of Autistic children that puberty is worse for them (the meltdowns, etc). I'm looking for some guidance through these next several years. Just knowing I am not alone would be a huge help whether you are on or off the spectrum. I am always looking for more ways I can help my son. I look forward to connecting to others on this forum.

Hi and Welcome Theresa...

Lots of nice people here and lots of information to dig through...

I'm sort of curious about something that might happen with your son soon??? No worries, its nothing bad...
I was sort of like your son... Up until I was late in my Sophomore/early Junior year. I was also very small for my age, and yes slightly immature in some areas, yet extremely mature in others (still that way it seems)...

I was never given shots, or anything like that... My body kicked in when it decided too. When it did things were crazy. I was having massive leg cramps (growing pains) and of course my body was changing. I started gaining muscle like some very small version of hulk... However, I never become one of those raging hormone kids... It just never showed up, and honestly I might have a lower sex drive than many people, not sure... but by the way people discuss it - I would say definitely likely.

So if it were to work out like this... you could get a small blessing in disguise. I would also say that he could possibly advance a lot in his maturity. I did... Please never think I am saying I was "cured" of something that has nothing to be cured... But I was a hand flapper, ear pulling, circle spinning silent little moron.

I grew out of a mass of it, in my late high school years to the point I function basically well and now run a sports company at the top level (I work for the Board of Directors). So I just wanted to maybe give you a real life account to never give up, (not saying you are in any way.) Maybe also know his body has its own clock and its not in sync with the rest of the world...

People just seem to think we have to grow up like everyone else... Thats just not true.

Never to say it may never kick in... that too is a possibility, but mine did finally kick in on its own... My baby teeth were even a weird thing.
 
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Hi Theresa, welcome to AC

Most of us are HFA/ Asperger's. We do have comorbid conditions too. And some of us have children. At least one of mine is Aspergers (we are 90% sure about the other but they don't want a diagnosis and are at an age where they need to sort it out themselves). One was a very quiet passive teenager. The other melted down and fought regularly. It is mostly when something stresses them out.

Stress is the biggest driver of adverse autistic behaviour IME. If you can do stuff to ease stress then life is easier for everyone. It is also at the route of comorbid depression and anxiety conditions.
 
Welcome.

No kids myself - just as others have said there are great people within this community.
 

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