Teenage daughter undressing

Hi Majorie,

We have already considered this and have asked her if anyone has done or touched her in any way and she is adamant they havent. We have asked in different ways but the answer is always the same that no one is or has touched her in a bad way. Thankyou for your comment though :)

I think there is one other aspect you should at least consider. A sudden change of behaviour in a 17 year old girl, may mean that someone is abusing or taking advantage of her. I hope not, but it maybe should be looked into. It may be that she is trying to tell you something but cannot express it in words.

Just an update, am thinking possibly Jade is suffering with Catatonia, she has all the symptoms of this. She is going to have tests done etc. The school doc doesnt know alot about it, but I have done some reserch and everything seems to fit x

Hi and thankyou :) Her diet hasnt changed at all, we have tried gluten free in the past under the guidance of a dietician from the hospital but made no difference at all. We have had help in the past from NHS but to no avail. Nothing has changed at all in her diet. We are waiting for an app with her school doc towards the end of December, but to be honest dont think we can wait that long.

I will take a look at the sites youve given me, Thankyou very much :) xx

I think I'm more of a fan of conventional medicine than SOI! I share her aversion to medicalising for autism but autism may not be her only problem by the sound of it. I wouldn't avoid asking for help from the nhs. There is growing understanding of autism there and it isn't all about doling out anti-psychotics.

There are lots of suggestions that diet can make a massive difference to autistic's behaviour. There is an exclusion diet at fedup.com.au/.../how-to-start-failsafe-eating that aims to assist with identifying foods that might affect a child's behaviour. Personally I have found that I am intolerant of apples and lots of other fruits. I always thought that these couldn't possibly be harmful but then found

www.allergyuk.org/.../oral-allergy-syndrome

I haven't detected any direct impact on my mental health but generally feel better and my GI system seems to appreciate me avoiding apples in particular.

So has she started to eat or drink any different things recently?

A good site for evidence based research is

www.researchautism.net/.../our-evaluations-interventions

This suggests that Gluten and Casein free diets are not generally useful for ASD. It may be worth however to have her tested for allergies and intolerances.

Last time Holford's name came up on this forum...

community.autism.org.uk/.../recombinantsocks-patrick-holfords-optimum-nutrition-mind

I wouldn't discount anything however. Mark Twain: A crank is a crank until he's proved right!

Hi and thankyou for your comment. Our daughter is 17 but has a very much younger mental age, the idea of a diary would of been a great help but our daughter can just about write her name. She is on no medication and nothing has been changed in our house, she wears the sma eclothes that she normally wears, she hasnt any sensory issues regarding them. She really can not explain why she has started doing or feeling these things. She says she doesnt want to go to the dark side, we have no idea where she has even got this term from. I am sending a copy into school on Monday of all the strange happenings over the weekend to see if she is doing any of them at school also, as all they have told us is she is acting bizaar.

She cant explain where the feelings come from or why they happen, we have kept out cool through all of this as its upsetting for us to see her change so much and we know its worrying her to. It is honestly such a change in behaviour we just want to help but the things are increasing by the hour, sounds overdramatic but that is whats happening. We have been through everything regarding her clothes, wetting, smearing, undressing, strange shapes she is getting into and just dont have an answer...Thankyou for your ideas thoughand taking time to reply to me xx.

Some thoughts.. 

My view is that all behaviour has a reason, whether or not the person is aware of it, or whether the reason might be something completely batty to anyone else. 

The sudden onset suggests to me some confusing change of consciousness or sensory issue. Naked may just feel better than clothed. 

Has she started/changed any medication, or going through late puberty or premature menopause? Some medication can cause horrific skin crawling sensations, as can certain vitamin/mineral imbalances, and hormone dysfunctions. What type of clothes does she wear? Could she be finding them scratchy or sweaty? What is her diet like - eg have you tried excluding gluten and/or cows milk?

Re not walking from one room to another, does she do this at school too? If not, why not? Are you able to ask her not *why* she does it, but at what point in the room does the feeling start? And where in her body does she feel the feeling? Does it have a shape, or a colour? There may be a pattern, or a trigger.

And this might sound completely off the wall, but could she be very sensitive to electrical fields eg wifi? Has anything been moved/installed in your house recently?

Also, do you think she might communicate her difficulties more by writing her feelings down? Could you leave a diary somewhere, or communicate by Skype or email? 

If you can find a means of communication, could you ask her what would it take for her to keep her clothes on? ie instead of the "stick" - telling her not to do something, ask what the "carrot" might be? 

IMO the main danger here is that so-called professionals will probably end up diagnosing her as psychotic and medicate her. Which in the absence of other intervention is about as much use as disconnecting the oil light in your car. 

I am a fan of the Brain Bio Centre - although am aware there are plenty of skeptics who disagree and are out to trash anything Patrick Holford touches!
www.foodforthebrain.org/brain-bio-centre.aspx