Autism Article

Teenagers with Autism and How to Deal With Them

Autism is a brain development disorder characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication and restricted and repetitive behavior, all exhibited before a child is three years old. When a child enters their teenage years, this can be one of the most difficult times for parents. The teenage years are when the child reaches puberty. When a child reaches puberty, parents tend to lose control over normal situations due to the changes that the teenager is going through in their minds and bodies. Puberty isn’t any different in a teenager that has autism. The body still goes through the hormonal changes that puberty brings, though the experience may be quite different from that of someone who does not have autism. These changes can have serious results in your child. The way that your child accepts these changes will determine if the seriousness of these changes are good or bad.

Seizures are a side effect that a person with autism may experience as the body changes. This side effect is one of the scariest to undergo. There are many people who were born with autism that have suffered from seizures from birth on into adulthood. The seizures that occur in puberty can happen even if your child has never before had seizures due to these new changes in the body. Having a violent seizure doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Seizures affect a quarter of the children that have autism. They may go unnoticed due to the fact that theyare not classified as seizures. If you think your child has been or is having seizures then tell your doctor so that they can treat them right away. Maybe these seizures are small and you or child may not be able to notice. A loss in being able to function may be the result of such seizures. The important thing to remember is to keep regular check ups for your child.

These new changes in your child’s body may not necessarily be a bad thing. There may be skills or interests that your child may have grown in due to these new hormonal changes affecting them. The change into puberty has led some autistic children to have improved behavior and their ability to learn in social situations as reported by some parents.

Remembering to ask our doctor plenty of questions and keeping a close monitor on your autistic child is the most important thing. Making the change into puberty is a very big change for any teenager to go through, so it may be even greater for the teenager with autism. In order to smooth the change into adulthood, handle your autistic child with a lot of understanding and even more patience.