Helping girls of all ages during a transition time in their lives is what we do best here. So when a young girl named Amber* reached out to us with some questions and concerns regarding her first period, we thought this conversation would be a fabulous one to share!
Here was her message to us:
Whispers in the locker room, awkward conversations with family members, and commercials with veiled messages for strange-looking products. We all knew it was coming. Did we feel prepared?
According to data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the average American girl will get her first period before her thirteenth birthday[1], with ages as young as eight and nine becoming more and more common.
Only two generations ago, our grandmothers could anticipate this life event arriving while they were applying for their driver’s license, or writing final exams.
As the discussion grows over the causes of premature menarche, the question remains: how do we support young girls and women as their periods begin earlier and earlier? READ MORE… »
By Shawna H.
Going through puberty can be a tough time for a young girl. That is even more true when the young lady is autistic. There seems to be scant literature pertaining to females on the autism spectrum, and even less speaking about, or to young autistic girls about the changes of puberty, and beginning menstruation.
I can’t speak for all females on the spectrum about getting your period, and the whole puberty process. I can only relay my experience, and maybe some of that might be helpful for other young girls, or her parents in understanding. I have heard many ladies on the spectrum who have had quite different experiences with puberty than I did.
For me, it was a change that I welcomed. I looked forward to getting my period, and becoming an adult. It was exciting to me to become a woman. I learned a lot about it at school during sex ed. There was a lot of information available during that time to learn from. I think that this may have made the biggest difference to me in not only welcoming my period, but accepting my body as one in transformation. Knowing what to expect was paramount to easing my anxiety, and allowing me to be open to change.
Here are some things that I found to be helpful in preparing me for menstruation, and other changes that occur during puberty: READ MORE… »