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Autism/Early puberty in 7yo girl

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Expert: - 3/30/2009


Question
My cousin was diagnosed with Autism when she was a baby. Recently the doctor told us that she was begining to start puberty.  She is only 7.  The doctor said that there is a law in Texas that prohibits anyone under 14 from being prescribed any kind of birth control.  The only option they gave us is a shot that cost $1200.00 a month.  Is there any other option?  Is there a loop hole in the law somewhere?  In addition to the options, what should we expect from a 7 year old going through puberty who cant communicate with anyone.  What is the best way to handle this situation?

Answer
Hi Emily

I seriously think your family should get a second oppion on that.

I'm not a doctor, and I don't mean to worry you, but in my oppinion you should first exclude serious medical conditions for a puberty starting as early as that is not really usual, as you will certainly know. Precocious puberty can be (but doesn't have to be!) caused by tumors in the brain, problems with the ovaries or the thyroid gland. Please find a specialist (I think that would be a pediatric endocrinologist) and get these things checked if you haven't done this yet.

There is apparently a hormone therapy available which can put premature puberty to a halt (or if there are underlying health issues, treating them can stop the process), which should be the first choice of treatment, rather than putting her on birth control.

I don't know about loopholes in the laws, and what insurance would cover, but I guess it might cover hormone therapy if it's considered a medical necessity (which I don't know, probably rapid bone maturation which can result in a very short stature as an adult could be an argument), and of course treatment for any other underlying health issue.

What one can expect from a seven year old autistic girl going through puberty I honestly don't know, I was 12 or 13 when I went through puberty, and I went through a period of severe OCD and had severe anxiety issues (because of the puberty or not, I don't know) which I couldn't communicate (my parents only found out years later) which was not so nice. Other than that, puberty was relatively unspectactular (I'm rather a tomboy and have always been the tallest kid in my class since first grade, so no dramatic physical changes here, and menstruation has been painfree for me from the start). "Mentally", I don't think I even went through puberty until well into my late 20ties. I guess me and my family were quite lucky.

Hope this helps
C.

Autism

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*DISCLAIMER*

Please note I am not a healthcare professional or a doctor.
I cannot provide a diagnosis or give any medical advice.
Therefore I cannot answer questions like "is my child autistic ?" other than by telling you to go and see a specialist
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Please be aware that if you are in the US it will usually take at least 24 hours until I can answer your question, as I'm in Europe and don't have access to my email during the day. I also cannot answer questions concerning the US educational or law system (other than by looking up things on google, but that's probably not the expertise you need), as I'm not in the US.
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Please also be aware that I'm a person with autism. My answers may sometimes be very blunt and direct and I may tell you things you won't like to hear. Diplomacy is certainly not among my talents. I'm never being rude on purpose, and I always try not to hurt or offend people, but it has happened before and may happen again. It's NEVER on purpose. I just want to help.
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What I *can* do for you is gather information on any aspect of autism and therapy of autism you're interested in and give you my personal oppinion about it (if you want to hear it) or, if it applies, tell you about my personal experience. I can answer all questions about what life is like for an autistic person.

I can also answer questions asked in German or French (but will have to answer in English to questions asked in French as my French is a bit rusty).

Ich beantworte gerne auch Fragen auf Deutsch.

Vous pouvez poser des questions en Francais, si cela ne vous dérange pas que je responds en anglais.

Experience


As I'm not doing well right now and am not in the shape of answering questions well - I recieved a few low ratings lately - I'll take a break from AllExperts for the next few weeks/until I'm doing better

I am an adult diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome/High Functioning Autism and ADD.

In the past years I have also read a lot about autism and its comorbid conditions and related subjects (as I am experiencing symptoms of most of these or know others who do) , so I have accumulated a lot of layman knowledge in this area (AD(H)D, Tourette's Syndrome, OCD, sleep disorders, allergies, sensory integration dysfunction, learning difficulties, left/right-brain, giftedness, Irlen Syndrome, prism glasses, executive dysfunction (aka. "inertia"), "special" diets).

Education/Credentials
None in the field of autism, apart from being autistic myself !

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