Puberty talk when child doesn't want to know

[Aroundtheworldin80moves]

DD is 9, in Yr5. For context, she has got some additional needs, but it's never been clarified as what exactly.

She's fast approaching puberty. But any attempts to prepare her, she just shuts down. She doesn't want to know. I've bought her a book- won't look. She just says she doesn't want to change.

Has anyone got any tips? With lockdowns etc, she hasn't even had 'the talk' at school.

[Aroundtheworldin80moves]

Anyone please?

Some progress today. She's agreed that knowing what is going to happen will be less scary than it happening unexpectedly

[SilverBirchWithout]

What are your expectations from the chat you’ve had? I think her initial reaction feels perfectly normal, and in my experience it’s better to have several/many smaller conversations rather than expect a child to take it all on at once.
I can still remember being horrified when I first heard about periods (from a school friend), it probably took me about 2 years to make sense of it all.
Avoid making it a big issue, chat gradually in an age appropriate way and try not to make it too big a deal. Focus initially on the body changes, rather than sex, this can then come up at a later date.

[Thebookswereherfriends]

My dd is massively squeamish, so I thought it might be tricky talking with her about periods and sex etc. I left a book in her room and said we could look at it together or she could just have a look through on her own. I never heard anything about it for 6 months and then she asked me to read a section each night before bed. She was surprisingly ok with it and I think felt reassured after reading and asking any questions she had.

[Sunnydays999]

We had this issue . I left books in her room and just kept trying to gently chat . Good Job as she started periods at primary