Can puberty temporarily make an Aspie more autistic

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Joe90
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25 Mar 2019, 1:44 pm

OK 'more autistic' probably isn't the correct term, but what I mean is, for example, say if an Aspie had good eye contact from birth then when he was about 13-14 he suddenly avoided eye contact, then regained eye contact after a couple of years. That sort of thing.

When I was 14 I done a couple of weird, embarrassing things that were rather typical for an autistic teen but were out of character for me as an individual. When I was 14 I convinced myself that this random group of girls at my school wanted to be my friend, even though they literally had no idea I existed. So I tried to make friends with them, by stupidly following them around the school. :oops: They got freaked out but were too polite to tell me to piss off, so instead they sneaked around the school trying not to be seen by me (although I could see them), then went to tell a teacher. Thinking they were probably just seeing the teacher about a school project or something, I hovered around outside to wait for them to come out. They must have crept out a different way, because the next thing I knew I had the same teacher telling me to leave these girls alone. :oops: She wasn't yelling at me or anything, she was nice about it. Normally, in this situation, I would have reacted with emotions, but this particular time I just said, "OK", and left the room. Then I went about the rest of the day completely emotionless and unaffected by what had just happened. If that would have happened when I was YOUNGER or OLDER, I would have been emotionally affected in some way; with guilt or rejection or humiliation. But at this particular time I seemed utterly oblivious to their emotions and my own, which was NOT like me. Even as a small child I would have known better or reacted with emotion.
Looking back I think it must have been the most embarrassing s**t I've ever done. :oops:

Did you kind of go through a phase when you were a teenager/going through puberty where you did things that were out of character for you as an individual, and seemed oblivious to things you weren't typically oblivious to?


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DanielW
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25 Mar 2019, 2:25 pm

I wouldn't say more autistic. But even NT teens have more behavioral issues during puberty. Teenagers all through history have been known for doing stupid things, stunts etc. I think its normal to both want to belong to a peer group and to be socially awkward as a teen.

It might even make a person a little "less autistic" in that sense.



Joe90
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25 Mar 2019, 3:03 pm

DanielW wrote:
I wouldn't say more autistic. But even NT teens have more behavioral issues during puberty. Teenagers all through history have been known for doing stupid things, stunts etc. I think its normal to both want to belong to a peer group and to be socially awkward as a teen.

It might even make a person a little "less autistic" in that sense.


Well the teacher who they told, did say to me that people my age are going through a "difficult stage", which was why she wasn't mad or anything. She didn't know me or that I was on the spectrum, because the school was a large school and I never had this teacher for any of my classes. So, yeah, maybe it was a mixture of having ASD, ADHD and being a teenager. Ironically I feel like little kids are a little more mature than teenagers, in some ways. Well, little kids make more sense than teenagers.


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DanielW
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25 Mar 2019, 3:17 pm

Joe90 wrote:
Well the teacher who they told, did say to me that people my age are going through a "difficult stage", which was why she wasn't mad or anything. She didn't know me or that I was on the spectrum, because the school was a large school and I never had this teacher for any of my classes. So, yeah, maybe it was a mixture of having ASD, ADHD and being a teenager. Ironically I feel like little kids are a little more mature than teenagers, in some ways. Well, little kids make more sense than teenagers.


Yeah, that's really when I started losing the few school friends I had. They seemed to be "growing up" and wanting to go off and do other things. I tended to like simpler toys and games etc.



jimmy m
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25 Mar 2019, 9:23 pm

When you go through puberty you are under significantly more stress, both because your body is changing and also because this is the time that bullying tends to peak. Stress will amplify some of your negative Aspie traits.


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CockneyRebel
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26 Mar 2019, 12:56 pm

It sure did in my case. Puberty was a shock to my system. There's a reason that people go through puberty. That reason is so that trans people will be pissed off until they find a way that they can truly be themselves. I found a way to truly be myself three years ago. I feel completely natural with Schultz on my head.


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