Hope this helps.

David.

Don't forget to us posted, it's very interesting to me.

D

http://www.mdjunction.com/forums/autism-discussions/general- support/2699-very-late-onset

I still don't have a definite answer about late-onset autism (how late it can actually be), but from what I've heard so far, if it occurs in adolescence, it's most likely a teenager mood, or depression, and not autism. Autism occurs in early childhood, and if the kid is normal throughout his early years, it's unlikely that he would develop autism so late. Or so I'm told, cause I too was thinking the same when my son started to display similar behaviours.

You know how teenagers are... sometimes they can become very strange, and very uncommunicative, and full of moods and mood swings and hormones... we were the same, some of us more, some of us less... I don't think it's a coincidence your daughter started to behave like this at puberty. The more I thought and researched on my son's condition, the more I realized it's not as bad as autism, and not as incurable. Teenage years. Takes a lot of patience, listening and patience, patience, and patience again.

My sister started to behave similarly when she first got her period. For months she thought she was dying, didn't let anybody touch her, didn't want to talk to anybody, and nobody understood what is wrong with her. She was too embarrassed to talk to anybody about this. Finally, my aunt discovered her "secret" and it all went back to normal. But she was really-really weird back then, very crazy.

Maybe she likes a boy at school, or maybe she has some troubles with her friends... Did you try to talk to her about it?

And, most importantly, don't postpone a visit to a psychologist!!!

Please check back, I'm also extremely interested and concerned.