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Does aspergers get worse during puberty?

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Scarface720
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24 Jul 2013, 7:38 pm

Jonov wrote:
Scarface720 wrote:
I have always had all the symptoms of aspergers as a child, but I could deal with it. Ever since I hit the age of about 15 however, got acne, really bad memory, always tired but can never fall asleep, always bored. I was Fine before 15 but I changed over a couple of days out of nowhere. My looks also changed during this time. All the aspergers symptoms got worse by like 1000x. I'm an 18 year old guy now, will I go back to the way I was once the hormones calm down?


My anger issues and the way I acted under distress were a lot more extreme during puberty, for instance I would run upstairs in anger/tears when I felt I was not being taken seriously by my parents and siblings, and one time I even kicked in the doors of my closet causing one of them to hang lose, until I bought myself a closet when I was in my early 20's.

But after puberty I taught myself that breaking my own stuff because I was angry was not only ineffective it also gets rather expensive, and learned techniques to deal with my anger in another way, that doesn't mean I never get the same feelings that would cause such an outburst at my current age, but If it really gets bad I punch a pillow on my couch instead, and vent by calling my mother or discussing it with my coach.

I think it will go in waves, and you will learn how to deal with certain traits eventually while getting older, but I would strongly suggest to make sure you do not have to deal with this on your own, make sure you always have someone you can talk to so you can vent.

For me it went from having a lot of emotional problems during puberty, into a superiority complex during college, which lead to a severe depression in my early 20's, and now brought me to a period of acceptance, and I am now better able to adjust my negative traits because I understand them better.

It will be a rocky road emotionally, and you will have to keep on working on yourself to learn how to deal with your behavior.

In a way the extremity of my autism during puberty has mainly helped me to understand my autism better.


So was your autism way worse during puberty? Did it get BETTER after puberty ended? or has it been the same since you started puberty?



Biscuitman
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25 Jul 2013, 1:51 am

Would not have known I had AS as a child really, I appeared popular enough even though I lacked confidence and liked being on my own but puberty is where it all kicked in. I recently told my mum that i may have AS and she wasn't all that surprised (which surprised me!). She said she felt she 'lost me for a few years' when I was a teenager as I cut myself off from the world so much.

ended up quite depressed, eating disorders etc etc. Took until last year for me to realise all these things were linked. read up on AS and felt like a light was being switched on. how could I have not seen all this before??? Ran through a few behavioral signs of AS with my girlfriend without her knowing and she said these things I was reading out were all things I do and described me well. :oops:



Jonov
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25 Jul 2013, 2:58 am

Scarface720 wrote:
Jonov wrote:
Scarface720 wrote:
I have always had all the symptoms of aspergers as a child, but I could deal with it. Ever since I hit the age of about 15 however, got acne, really bad memory, always tired but can never fall asleep, always bored. I was Fine before 15 but I changed over a couple of days out of nowhere. My looks also changed during this time. All the aspergers symptoms got worse by like 1000x. I'm an 18 year old guy now, will I go back to the way I was once the hormones calm down?


My anger issues and the way I acted under distress were a lot more extreme during puberty, for instance I would run upstairs in anger/tears when I felt I was not being taken seriously by my parents and siblings, and one time I even kicked in the doors of my closet causing one of them to hang lose, until I bought myself a closet when I was in my early 20's.

But after puberty I taught myself that breaking my own stuff because I was angry was not only ineffective it also gets rather expensive, and learned techniques to deal with my anger in another way, that doesn't mean I never get the same feelings that would cause such an outburst at my current age, but If it really gets bad I punch a pillow on my couch instead, and vent by calling my mother or discussing it with my coach.

I think it will go in waves, and you will learn how to deal with certain traits eventually while getting older, but I would strongly suggest to make sure you do not have to deal with this on your own, make sure you always have someone you can talk to so you can vent.

For me it went from having a lot of emotional problems during puberty, into a superiority complex during college, which lead to a severe depression in my early 20's, and now brought me to a period of acceptance, and I am now better able to adjust my negative traits because I understand them better.

It will be a rocky road emotionally, and you will have to keep on working on yourself to learn how to deal with your behavior.

In a way the extremity of my autism during puberty has mainly helped me to understand my autism better.


So was your autism way worse during puberty? Did it get BETTER after puberty ended? or has it been the same since you started puberty?


I'm sorry if what I wrote wasn't clear enough, but yes my autism was worse, and no it has not been "the same" in that sense as I have learned how to deal with it better.

You are now at an age where you learn your place in the world, and the person you are, and while that is good it also means that you become a lot more aware of things you may now see as great flaws, you mentioned you changed a lot yourself and things like acne, you are in a way looking at yourself trough a magnifying glass, being able to pinpoint everything that you deem "wrong", but without the tools to adjust any of it(not to be mistaken with repair), as you grow older you gain more tools, and while your problems may still be the same they will feel better as you are able to get a better grip on them, at least from my own experience.

That's also what I mean when I say it will come in waves , first you have your autistic traits as a child and you are not fully aware of them, then you enter the highly socially competitive arena that is high school, causing others and also yourself to point out everything that is autistic, leaving you quite confused and frightened about who you are becoming, and then you enter a time in which you learn (sometimes the hard way) how much of that social life is healthy for you ( high school amounts were definitely not healthy for me ), and learn to adjust your surroundings to match your personality and to tune yourself a little.

This will take time, but looking back I can say my autism may not have become less, but instead of being autism with a person, I am now a person with autism, and that certainly makes you feel better about it.



Last edited by Jonov on 25 Jul 2013, 2:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Biscuitman
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25 Jul 2013, 4:16 am

Emotions of all kind are way more extreme during puberty and calm down and even themselves out as you move into your 20's and onwards.

Not sure that it is AS being worse, just AS combined with the usual highs and lows everyone goes through at that age



Scarface720
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25 Jul 2013, 1:18 pm

Biscuitman wrote:
Emotions of all kind are way more extreme during puberty and calm down and even themselves out as you move into your 20's and onwards.

Not sure that it is AS being worse, just AS combined with the usual highs and lows everyone goes through at that age


That's what I was wondering. It just seems that puberty brings every single emotion/problem to the surface, making it a lot more noticeable. I just want some peace in mind that I won't be like this forever. I'll be 19 in about 1 month. Should my hormones be balancing up pretty soon?

To be honest, there were only very subtle signs as a child. Even though I had some signs as a child, I always had friends from K-8. People always thought I was just an extremely shy normal kid because I hide my emotions a lot. Then 9th grade came and I was attacked by these hormones and all the problems that come with it. Now I have next to zero friends, outside of xbox live.