Hormones?

At the moment Bear seems to be in a state of almost constant meltdown!

7 or 8 hours on Saturday!  Yesterday not so bad since we went swimming, but this morning he was cranky again and this afternoon he walked in the door after school screaming and kept it up until we put him to bed at 7 oclock (in desperation)  Even then it took him about an hour before he stopped.

It started about a week into term and we laid the blame firmly at the feet of Gymnastics.  Bear loves his Gymnastics and Trampoline class every Tuesday of the school term but it had been canceled for the first 3 weeks of term due to the Katanning Show being on at the same venue.  We were pretty sure that it got to a week into the school term and Bear realized that he hadn't been to Gym and he should have been.  In fact I know he did because when we picked him up everyday it was only after he realized that we were heading home and not to Gym that the meltdown would start.

Is that all?  Well it could be and I guess we will find out tomorrow when we head off to Gym for the first time this term. 

I'm starting to think maybe it's not!

I've heard from several other mums of autistic boys that school years 6 and 7 are the worst and Bear is in year 6...towards the end of year 6...so he's right in the middle of that time frame.

He's had pimples and blackheads for some years now and in summer he has a distinct Body Odor rather than that sweaty kid smell.  And there's hair where there never used to be hair.

So I think it's pretty safe to say that puberty has arrived.

Now I'm not so old that I don't remember what I was like when I went through puberty...I was a little older than 11 when I started but I was horrendous.  I pity my poor mother.

So is it possible that he is just being a horrendous teenager?  That the hormones are just getting the better of him? 

I think so!

Sure a disruption in the routine, like the break in Gymnastics has probably made it worse, but I think he's probably also struggling to cope with what his own body is doing to him.

Soooo...here's hoping that the other Autism Mums were right and it really does start getting better towards the end of next year :D