Menstuation-how to explain to a non-verbal girl

[Judith Doherty]

:confused:

Hi all,

I have two children in the spectrum, the girl who is 9, is pretty much non-verbal, has apraxia and uses sign and word approximation to express herself.

I see signs of impending puberty, and with my boy 15, never had to face explaining this before. Has anyone else had experience with this, and if so, what worked/didn't work for your child?

Thanks for any input!

Judy Doherty
Brendon's mom (15),autism, OCDs, Tourette's
Caroline's mom (9) PDD/NOS, aapraxia

[Lighthouses]

Hello, Do you ever try the book yet? Thanks, :p

[Dave]

What book are you recommending Lighthouses? Sorry Judith, my kids are 6, 4, and almost 2, so my experience here is limited.

Dave

[Lighthouses]

Hi Dave, I recomming picture book for her..Thanks, :p :cool: :rolleyes:

[Judith Doherty]

:confused: Hi Dave and all,

Would be great if Michelle knew of a specific book with pictures for Caroline, I guess I will have to write this myself!

Looks like a niche marketing opportunity.

Thanks,

Judy

[Dave]

I know you're not the only one who has faced this, so maybe someone will come along with some info, but I have searched a little bit and have found basically nothing. I'll post if I do though and yes, you could probably write a book and sell it if you find a way to work through this.

Dave

[Lighthouses]

Hello, I will search that in Autism Resource mazagine..Thanks:D :p ;)

[Dave]

I found something on the FEAT site that might be of interest to you... it seems that avoiding the menstruation cycle until the child is older maybe an option. Here's a link and the full text in case they move the file on their site.

http://www.feat.org/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0108&L=FEATNEWS&P=R2295
On Delaying Menstruation for Young Autistic Girls

[This material collected by Catherine Johnson, associate editor.]

This is a follow-up to earlier posts about the practice of giving
young girls with developmental disabilities long-term contraceptives such as Depo Provera in order to spare them the difficulty of dealing with menstruation, cramps, PMS etc., at least until they're a little older and more mature.
I came across Andrew Weil's answer to the question "How healthy is it to skip your period by continuously taking birth control pills? My doctor says it's fine. What is your opinion?" posted on his web site. While the questioner is asking about herself, not about women and girls with disabilities, Dr. Weil's answer is obviously relevant.
If I were the parent of a girl with autism I would find Dr. Weil's
"qualified OK" pretty reassuring. These are alternative medicine people, who emphasize natural, noninvasive approaches to health, and even they are moving toward the view that using contraceptives to cut down the number of periods women have is safe.
Other potentially good news is that pharmaceutical companies are working on a contraceptive with a 3-month cycle built in, and other companies still are working on birth control pills with only a 2-day "placebo period." A 2-day placebo period means that women taking these pills will have 2-day periods as opposed to the standard 7-day period structured into the current 28-day contraceptive regimen. (In the 21-day regimen women
take 21 birth control pills followed by 7 days of placebo pills. The
"period" that happens during these 7 days is actually a form of breakthrough bleeding, which always occurs when hormones suddenly drop. A 2-day placebo period will mean that women take 26 birth control pills followed by 2 days of placebo pills, and then begin the new cycle of contraceptives.)
Obviously a 2-day "period" is going to be a lot milder and, I would think, less upsetting to autistic girls than the periods she would experience with no medication at all.
And I'm assuming that a 2-day placebo period is also going to produce a far lighter "period" than the current 7-day placebo period, as well. Otherwise pharmaceutical companies wouldn't be going to the expense of developing this new product.
Along with Dr. Weil I've also found a very nice summary, posted on the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation site, of Malcolm Gladwell's article in The New Yorker concerning the possible dangers of "too much" menstruation. There is a school of thought that using birth control medication to prevent menstruation isn't just a convenience, but is actually good for girls and women. The thinking is that women living in a "natural state" with little or no birth control at have far fewer periods across a lifetime than Western women for whom practicing birth control is a way of life.
Here are two compelling statistics from the Kaiser Foundation post article:
"Women who take the pill for 10 years reduce their ovarian cancer risk by 70% and their endometrial cancer risk by 60%."
"Hoping to understand what female biology was like before the modern age, Beverly Strassmann, a scientist from the University of Michigan, traveled to Africa in 1986 to study reproductive biology of the Dogon tribe of Mali. The Dogons do not use contraception. . . . For two-and-a-half years, [anthropologist] Strassmann compiled data on the women, and she found that on average, a Dogon woman menstruates a total of 100 times during her lifetime, marking a significant difference from most [American] women of reproductive age, who menstruate, on average, between 350 and 400 times."
Both articles are below.

Postponing Periods with the Pill?
Q: How healthy is it to skip your period by continuously taking birth
control pills? My doctor says it's fine. What is your opinion?
-- Rebecca Hutchison

A: (Published Monday, July 23, 2001) Without knowing what kind of
birth control pills you're taking, I can't give you a truly informed answer,
but I did ask two colleagues for their opinions. Monica Stokes, MD, a recent
graduate of the Program in Integrative Medicine and now a gynecologist in
consultative practice in San Francisco, said that if you want to avoid
having periods, you might take the low-dose pill continuously for three or
four months and then see what happens when you stop. Here's why: Normally,
28-day cyclic pill use maintains your uterine lining at a certain level of
thickness, which becomes thinner over time. (This lining is sloughed off
every month as menstrual flow.) As the lining thins, menstrual flow becomes
lighter and lighter and, sometimes, stops altogether. When this happens,
some women worry that they may be pregnant, but that is unlikely if they've
been taking the pill faithfully as directed.
After a trial period of three or four months, if you get a very heavy
period when you stop taking the low-dose pill continuously, you should
regard that as an indication not to resume taking the pill continuously. The
heavy bleeding indicates that the additional estrogen has thickened the
lining of your uterus much more than it should have. If you get only a light
period, you probably can resume taking the pill continuously for another
four months - but Dr. Stokes tells me that she wouldn't be comfortable
recommending that patients take it for longer than four months at a time for
the purpose of
avoiding periods for a special occasion, such as a vacation or athletic
competition. (Some women may take a continuous regimen of low-dose pills for
therapeutic reasons, such as to help treat endometriosis.)
Another colleague, Ann Matson, MD, a gynecologist practicing in
Boulder, Colorado, and a Program in Integrative Medicine Associate Fellow,
tells me that drug manufacturers are reportedly developing a new oral
contraceptive with a three-month cycle length. From her own experience, she
has seen few problems among patients taking birth control pills continuously
for three to four months at a time. In fact, she has found that her patients
complain less often of such side effects as bloating, headaches, and
irregular bleeding. And she has seen no increase in complications -
pregnancy or blood clots.
Based on what my colleagues have told me, I suspect we'll be seeing
more women taking birth control pills continuously for several months.
However, because we have no studies verifying that this is a safe way to use
these powerful drugs, no woman should take the pill continuously at this
time without her doctor's approval and supervision. - Dr. Andrew Weil

[Riza1]

In regard to putting young girls on the pill for their periods my daughter is 11 years old she has not started her cycle but I feel it would be soon. When would I start the pill and could she have any develomental problems.