Asperger's/Autism & Periods

I have no advice from experience, I hope you find a solution. The only thing I can think of is to ask the nurse, her teacher, teacher's aide or someone from administration to remind her? Does she carry a phone? If so, set a few alarms throughout the day.

I know this is stretching because I'm sure that last thing you want to do is put a 14 yo on birth control, but possibly putting her on patch where she would only get her period every three months? Or it might actually be a shot - I'm out of the loop with bc these days.

I have a son on the spectrum, so this isn't a problem we have had to address, but whenever we have issues with changing bodies or hygiene, we seek out social stories about the topic. Just google "social stories about periods or menstruation" and there are several options that come up.

Do you use visual cues to help your daughter achieve certain behaviors? Maybe you can work some of those into her routine. Does she carry a smart phone? Can you set a "period alarm" that tells her when to attend to her hygiene?

And since the Peas are awesome at recommending products, there was a thread about Thinx panties a few months back. They are undies designed to absorb flow without leakage.

Good luck!

Do you think she's just trying to pretend that nothing is happening? I could see my DS doing that when he was younger. In his mind, if he didn't acknowledge it, it didn't happen.

I used the phrase, "Social convention dictates that you do/do not ..." with DS. At that age we worked a lot with being productive members of society and the social contract we have with each others as people who share space.

And I like the idea of getting an aide or a school nurse involved. As it's a hazmat situation requiring special clean up (spilling of body fluids), I would thing they would be receptive to helping out.

I think it would be a good idea to discuss this with her doctor as well. It seems like fewer/lighter periods would be a blessing for all.

Time to take her to a gynecologist. There are great doctors who can explain in clear language what is happening and why she needs to kept tidy. They may be able to prescribe a bcp that will work for her.
Buy the panties and dark color pants. She should carry wipes with her.

ok this may sound strange, but there is a watch call a potty watch its for little kids. I think you can set it to go off every hour or something like that. Maybe try it , it has a low alarm that goes off.

For at home, could you put up a picture/word reminder across from the toilet in the bathroom she uses? Maybe having some kind of visual cue might help remind her to care for herself? Also where are the pads kept in the bathroom? Maybe during her period they go on a shelf or counter that she can easily see while she's sitting on the toilet? That can also serve as a prompt to remind her to change her pad.

Does she have a cell phone that she carries around with her? If yes, you could set an alarm to go off every x hours. That would remind her that she needs to go to the bathroom and change her pad. And just make a rule that when you hear x sound, you need to go to the bathroom and change your pad real quick.

I would also suggest the new period panties that others have mentioned. Those should help contain some (hopefully all!) of the mess should she forget to change her pad.

What about a bigger pad? Always has different colour ones.
The purple thin one is awesome. Heavy duty and long