HORMONES AND HUGS!
Yesterday morning, in the park, Emily burst into tears and cried
until we got back to the car. She thengiggled for about5 minutes.
This pattern of events happened three times yesterday, so this
morning I decided to do a blog on hormones.So, youve managed to get
throughchildhood with your autistic child and you start to feel you
really know their personalities, what makes them tick, what makes
them anxious and what makes them happy. Then they reach 13 andWHAM
.. HORMONES!!!!!!Dealing with atypical teenagers can be tricky,
exhausting and confusing for any parent, but if youaddthe
complexities of an autism spectrum disorderinto the mixture stand
well back!!!Your child, whois generally of a placid, happy
disposition may suddenly become very moody, aggressive, tearful and
difficult to understand. If your child is one whofinds
communicating extremely challenginganyway, then theteenage years
can be stressful, frightening andunpleasantfor everyone.If you can
keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it
on you, Rudyard Kipling
Keep a diary:If you keep a diary of your childs behaviour, you
may be able to see patterns emerging, which will help you be ready
for potential outbursts. If you can see patterns, start to keep
everything as predictable and calm as possible, for at least 2 days
beforehand.Keep calm:If your child is reacting in an aggressive or
emotional way, keep calm and dont take anything personally,
whatever they say or do. Talk to them gently, remind them that you
love them and reactive adversely to nothing. Try to prevent added
stimulus for them to deal with, so do not ask anything of them.
Your child will not be able to answer yourquestions, while they are
in thisstate and it may escalate any aggression.Look after you:If
your child does become aggressive and is aiming that aggression at
you, stay calm, but look after you. Do not allow your child to hurt
you. What is happening is not personal and they cannot control
themselves, so just protect yourself and them as best you can.When
its over:Eventually your childs behaviour will calm and it is then
that you can remind them of how much you love them and how proud
you are of them. Once your child is calm, spend some time with
them, doing something they love. For my daughter, when she calms,
she always wants hugs (for reassurance) and me to stay and chat for
a while (about our summer holiday).
