Does aspergers get worse during puberty?

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Scarface720
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21 Jul 2013, 9:12 pm

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?



1401b
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21 Jul 2013, 10:41 pm

EVERYTHING gets worse during puberty!


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Last edited by 1401b on 21 Jul 2013, 10:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Eloah
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21 Jul 2013, 10:42 pm

For me, it's been a downward spiral since puberty. I've been trying to work out if its because I've got worse or if its because life has got harder and I get much less help.



Scarface720
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21 Jul 2013, 11:00 pm

Will it get better once the hormones balance? Will it get better when I'm completely out of puberty and an adult? I can't live in the state of mind I am in right now!

I've always had OCD as a child, but when I hit age 15, my OCD symptoms got worse along with my social anxiety. The same time that happened, I got acne and got kinda uglier as well. So that makes me think puberty imbalance hormones did this to me. I also got depressed and used to be very happy (Not because of the acne or getting uglier! just how I started feeling).



one-A-N
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21 Jul 2013, 11:11 pm

My psychologist said that AS was like getting a double dose of puberty (or at least adolescence).

Everyone goes through huge changes in puberty and adolescence, but the Aspie finds their social and emotional world speeding up from childhood to adulthood in about 6 years (ages 12 and 18) but they have a social and emotional learning delay. We can often keep up intellectually, or even be ahead, and yet lag way behind emotionally and socially.

Eventually we may catch up enough to cope - often some years after the NTs have mastered the adult social world. But those high growth years can be very distressing - at least, that is how I found it.



loner1984
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22 Jul 2013, 12:23 am

Yeah sums it up very well.

Life only gets harder and more complex. and there is less and less help, if you dont get enough help as a kid, well then your on your own.

Not to mention you stand out more the older you get. Sometimes i get the feeling that normal people can see right through me.

I feel like Tom Hanks in that movie Big. sadly i dont have the option to go back again to age 14.



Scarface720
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22 Jul 2013, 1:13 am

one-A-N wrote:
My psychologist said that AS was like getting a double dose of puberty (or at least adolescence).

Everyone goes through huge changes in puberty and adolescence, but the Aspie finds their social and emotional world speeding up from childhood to adulthood in about 6 years (ages 12 and 18) but they have a social and emotional learning delay. We can often keep up intellectually, or even be ahead, and yet lag way behind emotionally and socially.

Eventually we may catch up enough to cope - often some years after the NTs have mastered the adult social world. But those high growth years can be very distressing - at least, that is how I found it.


So is this "overdrive mode" gonna get better after the hormones subside? I know I won't ever be completely normal, but will it get better once the hormones balance out? I've heard that hormones take everything and intensifies it.

What's the difference between adolescence and puberty?



benh72
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22 Jul 2013, 1:15 am

It does get worse; ASD is a neurological problem, and during puberty the brain is frantically rewiring itself, pumping out hormones like there's no tomorrow, and people of the opposite sex, or perhaps the same sex are starting to pay closer attention and attract you.
Over time you learn to find yourself and accept yourself, but if you want to be happy, settled and well adjusted, and avoid an existential crisis in later life, then puberty is when your family need to provide you the most love and support.
If they don't they may lay the foundations for a later ongoing family disruption or rift.
Adolescence is hard enough for NT's it's devastating to those of us with ASD.



btbnnyr
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22 Jul 2013, 1:25 am

12 was bad.

13 was OK.

14 and up were good.

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lostinlove
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22 Jul 2013, 2:10 am

as a girl puberty was pretty devastating, I can't speak for what it's like for a man, but for a girl the hormones were awful, so I'm guessing that it would be the same for a man.
Girls have to deal with hormones every month too, so for me although it got a little better after puberty, I still have to deal with the possibility of having a meltdown once a month :( and taking birth control (adding synthetic hormones to my system) was a total nightmare.



Joe90
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22 Jul 2013, 4:10 am

I remember getting more in touch with my true emotions when I reached about 11 or 12 (which is when I started puberty). When I was little, I did have emotions but they weren't as intense because I was just a child. Everybody changes through puberty and starts to get to know their real self. Some happy, innocent little children turn into grouchy thugs in their teens.


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grahamguitarman
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22 Jul 2013, 4:13 am

Puberty is a hard time for any person, let alone one with an ASD. I was quite messed up in my teen years, prone to outbursts and fits of tears. I didn't really come out of it till I was about 18, by which time my hormones had settled down :roll:


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Eloah
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22 Jul 2013, 6:48 am

Scarface720 wrote:
So is this "overdrive mode" gonna get better after the hormones subside? I know I won't ever be completely normal, but will it get better once the hormones balance out? I've heard that hormones take everything and intensifies it.


It will probably get better after the hormones subside. Hormones do make everything worse. As long as you're not a girl, you'll probably be better when you reach an age when the acne stops. If you're a girl, you're doomed until you're old, including getting monthly acne :(



chlov
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22 Jul 2013, 6:54 am

1401b wrote:
EVERYTHING gets worse during puberty!

I guess this is true.

I don't think that I became much worse during puberty though. Only some things worsened.
My mood swings intensified and became more frequent (I have them since early childhood) and my ODD worsed, but I don't think many other things changed.

The worst years were probably those when I was 11, 12 and 13.
From 14 it has been just fine.



Scarface720
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22 Jul 2013, 9:02 am

I can't wait for the hormones to subside. Before they went crazy at 15 I could have normal conversations with people I'm comfortable with like family (although it still took me a lot longer to get comfortable with people than it did for normal people. It's as if I'm slow in the head.) Then after I noticed I got acne, constipation, and a whole bunch of weird symptoms at 15, I also could never think of what to people no matter how comfortable I am with them. It's like my mind entered a very foggy and blank state, alot like pregnant women get when their hormones are crazy.

Anyway, since I'm 18 and a guy, Should puberty be coming close to the end by now?



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22 Jul 2013, 10:24 am

I Think asperger's seems worse as social demands and responsibilities increase. Diminish capacity for such adaptation tends to make it look like it has worsened, when in fact the person was put in a situation where the disability is more obvious.