DS, autism and puberty

[CloudyChance7]

Hi, I’ve been recommended to post on here to try and get some advice and to try and settle my nerves!

My son hasn’t gone through puberty yet and it’s starting to get to him, he’s an extremely picky eater which has me thinking this has had an effect. Does anyone have any advice as to how I should go about it and if I should have some sort of talk with him? I’m not sure how much ASD is going to affect his development mentally

How old is he @CloudyChance7?

I read recently that the taller they are designed to be, the later they usually go through puberty but I don't know if that's true.

If he's very picky, does he have ARFID? We are just trying to get DD some help for it but she's 15 now and much better than she used to be.

He’s 14, but will be 15 in August.

I’ve never heard that before, no idea if that’s true or not. He gets down about it a lot and I’ve realised I’ve not talked to him about it properly and clearly to match his level of autism if that makes sense.

Whilst he’s never been diagnosed with ARFID and I don’t think he’s to the absolute extreme with his pickiness (I remember hearing a story about a girl that only eats chocolate fingers!) he does eat an extremely limited and plain food group: bread, plain pasta, rice, some cereals, milk (no cheese) etc. only eats strawberries and apples (if they’re small pieces) when it comes to fruit and for vegetables only cauliflower, potato's (which barely count), peas and peppers (again if finely chopped). Hopefully he’ll get better with age like your daughter did

Do you think it's worth talking to him about having a check up at the Doctors? They could do a blood test to see if he's deficient in any vitamins or minerals?

I’ve thought about it yeah, although I worry that mentioning the doctors would make him worry more. Weirdly enough he barely ever gets ill and besides not starting puberty yet he doesn’t look deficient

I would take him for a GP check up and if he can tolerate it, a blood test.
Whilst he might not show outward symptoms of deficiency, you can be deficient in vitamins and minerals without symptoms….or if he’s borderline deficient it may not be obvious. My DS (18) is vitamin D deficient and at one point did have achy bones/joints but since he’s been on vit D supplements, has no symptoms but is still slightly deficient.

Your food list isn’t as minimal as some but doesn’t include much protein and lack of protein can inhibit muscle growth as well as delay puberty. ‘Growing kids need protein to build and repair cells, enzymes and hormones, and as a last resort, to provide energy.’ (Gladful.in, 2021).

I would go and see the GP and ask for the blood test, plus ask for a referral to your community paediatric dietician or paediatric eating disorder team. Whether they will assess for ARFID depends on a number of things.