So I have to say that one of the scariest things about raising a child with Autism is when they hit puberty. Everything changes……everything changes. In my experience with Gavin, have seen his reactions to medications change as his hormones begin to take flight. The meltdowns…yeah. they are WAY worse now but far less frequent. He’s just stronger now and does’t know his own strength. Gavin is also starting to grow a mustache and is getting some arm pit hair as well. He pretty proud of it, so I thought it worth mentioning. One of the “problems” we are seeing is with his coordination. I mean, he drops everything, literally. He falls both up AND down the steps. Today alone, he dropped his water bottle several times. He also dropped a few bowls (cereal not the other kind…really?) and glasses as well…oh and he fell out of his chair and knocked a table over.

I’m thinking this has something to do with puberty and growing……right? Please tell me it’s just a phase because we are running out of dishes. I’m having to remind him to SLOOOOOW down. He’s WAY more likely to trip and fall when he’s not paying attention to what he’s doing or when he’s doing it to fast. It’s frustrating for him and so we just try to remind him without making him feel bad. Please God let this be a phase and there is a light at the end of this tunnel. Oh and PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE don’t let the light at the end of the tunnel be a train.

On the positive side, yes there is a positive side, we have finally found a group of medications that “seem” to be working well…or as well as can be expected. Gavin has actually settled down quite a bit. While the meltdowns we experience are MUCH more severe, they are far less frequent. I can ABSOLUTELY live with that. Gavin is MUCH stronger then he used to be so when we have to physically intervene during a meltdown, we kinda roll the dice as to whether or not we will be collateral damage. Luckily, Gavin doesn’t lash out at people anymore. Despite our recent challenges, he has honestly settled down a lot since puberty. My understanding is that it either goes one way or the other when they hit this phase of life. Dare I say it? Perhaps we are lucky? Knock on wood….

Have any of you experienced your Autistic child hitting puberty and lived to tell about it?