#autism burnout explained

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

Hi everyone,

I found a helpful article discussing autistic burnout. I’ll leave some excerpts from this article below:

“Autistic burnout’ is the intense physical, mental or emotional exhaustion, often accompanied by a loss of skills, that some adults with autism experience. Many autistic people say it results mainly from the cumulative effect of having to navigate a world that is designed for neurotypical people.

Burnout may especially affect autistic adults who have strong cognitive and language abilities and are working or going to school with neurotypical people.”

“Like many aspects of autism, burnout varies greatly from person to person. Some autistic people experience it as an overwhelming sense of physical exhaustion. They may have more difficulty managing their emotions than usual and be prone to outbursts of sadness or anger. Burnout may manifest as intense anxiety or contribute to depression or suicidal behavior. It may involve an increase in autism traits such as repetitive behaviors, increased sensitivity to sensory input or difficulty with change.

Burnout can sometimes result in a loss of skills: An autistic woman who usually has strong verbal abilities may, for example, suddenly find herself unable to talk.”

“Burnout is often a consequence of camouflaging, or masking, a strategy in which autistic people mimic neurotypical behavior by using scripts for small talk, forcing themselves to make eye contact or suppressing repetitive behaviors. These strategies can help autistic people in their jobs and relationships but require immense effort.

It can also result from sensory overstimulation, such as a noisy bus commute; executive function demands such as having to juggle too many tasks at once; or stress associated with change.”

The full article will be down below for anyone who would like to read through it. I hope many of you found this helpful and informative.

Autism Burnout

[sciderman]

I swear I have read your big post regarding Peter Parker's neurodivergence and why it is best to avoid labelling him, but he definitely has a weird brain

Can't find it and feel kinda sad about it cuz I deeply related to it

i know exactly which post you're talking about and i can't find it either! i've raked through my archive, and it's just - nowhere to be seen. i think tumblr eated it (it happens.)

really, tumblr's search functionality is so so useless, i don't know what to tell you. there are plenty of keywords i can search to find it that post, but the search functionality actually just does not work!

undiagnosed audhd-addled peter parker, my darling, my light, my life, my everything.

i think peter parker's such an interesting creature to write, because a lot of people will point to a certain behaviour about him and say "this is an autistic thing, right?" but a lot of those behaviours are actually, in my head, tied to certain traumas in peter's life too.

people say "oh, the food thing, peter's a picky eater because he's autistic" and yes, absolutely. but also it's tied to his trauma with his parents.

peter gets overstimulated, and yes, it's an autism thing, but also he was bitten by a radioactive spider and his senses are dialled to 11.

it's a similar case i've found for myself, too – where a lot of friends i have kind of diagnose me because i have autistic traits, but actually - i'm hesitant to claim the label or pursue diagnosis because, actually, i know where these certain behaviours come from, and they come from certain traumas. there are events i can pinpoint in my life and say "yep. that's where this behaviour comes from."

so - i think there's a lot of overlap between trauma and autistic traits. the brain is very complex! i think the reason for that overlap is maybe as simple as the fact that people with autism and people with trauma are both doing the same thing - developing behaviours to protect themselves or soothe themselves. so - i think it's nice to be able to see a character like peter parker, who may or may not be autistic, but recognise behaviours in him and see yourself in him.

people who go undiagnosed for whatever reason - people who are really good at masking - so good, in fact, that they have no idea they might be on the spectrum - everyone and anyone at all can look at peter parker and recognise themselves. because i think we discredit the thought that every single brain does the same thing! develops certain behaviours in order to survive. every brain has that same software - we've just all been faced with different hardships that we need to overcome, and that's were all the differences come in.

autism is a spectrum, i guess - everyone falls into it to some degree. and i think events in your life probably push you along on it. but i don't know, i didn't study brain science. probably what i'm saying is very stupid and uninformed. of course there's brain chemistry involved. but i know people in my life living with autism and certain events in their life have exacerbated certain behaviours or made coping with it a lot more difficult. so maybe trauma is a catalyst.

[petrow1tch]

They weren't lying, this psychological recovery journey got hands

[cowboys-tshot]

ive been feeling really off lately and just overall unmotivated and exhausted all the time (which i shouldnt be because i literally take adhd medication that is a stimulant) and i didnt really know why cause sometimes im just like this yk

anyways i just found out what autistic burnout is and uhhhh

[abandoned-as-mustard]

my latest hyperfixation: armchair diagnosing my peers. oh, you thought you could just exist around me. sorry. here's a nice seat on this round disk, it's totally not a petri dish or anything. can you hear electricity?

[rubbermalletrabbit]

I need something new to be obsessed with right this moment or else I'm gonna lose it

Almost everything I 'like' rn makes me feel physically sick in a bad guilty kind of way

[oswald-can-draw]

It’s hard to remember that I have a disability, especially in the “if no one can tell, you’re not disabled, you aren’t” society that we live in.

I find myself making socially acceptable excuses for my burnout/inattentiveness/awkwardness. Sometimes that’s for the best, but it can be exhausting. There’s only so many “just tired”s and “just woke up from a nap”s that I can throw out before the mask starts to slip.

I feel like everyone else has this capacity that I don’t, this extra space that, no matter how hard I work, I cannot reach. I am not miserable in my existence, and I do not want to be cured, but autism can be very heavy, especially when I’m trying to explain myself.

[strawberrykaon]

I think autistic primarchs would present very differently than in a baseline human. Its so much easier to cover up or explain away.

Like if Mortarion goes semi- verbal, he still sounds normal. But very stilted for a primarch. Its different from when I can only maybe say three words at a time. Usually I can only go "I don't know" or "no", or "go away". For him it's still full length sentences, like "I think I just need to be alone now". That can easily be explained to be exhaustion. But in reality he can't vocalize anything more complex right now.

Guilliman has be scripting since a child but no one notices. He just has over 100 scripts memorized for any occasion. Any question or change in the conversation. He already has a script lined up. He's capable of memorizing it. Conversations happen so naturally, you can't even tell the difference.

Even the way they stim can be so different to a baseline. Probably in ways a baseline can't comprehend. Traits like increased pattern recognition are standard in a primarch. All primarchs are far more "higher functioning" than any baseline.

Being behind their brothers developmentally by a few weeks is nothing compared to a baseline. What's walking at two months when most humans are closer to a year old when they start. Sure the other primarchs were walking much sooner. Some right out of the pod. But they often reached adulthood far sooner than any human. What constitutes a development delay to a primarch. If an apothecary can't tell what's a high blood pressure level in Guilliman. How can you tell?

Exhaustion that so many autistic face is so off from a baseline. They need less sleep. They can go through periods without rest for far longer. I think in cases like Mortarion, he can just push through an autistic burnout. Sure he's a bit more irritable, among other things. But hey, the point of a shutdown won't hit him till a few decades later. So therefore he must have high energy levels then even his brothers. Despite the toll on his mental health. Plus their recovery times are far shorter. Guilliman needs just a few days to feel normal after a year long campaign after all. Doesn't matter how he was acting prior. Any strange behavior can be hand waved away.

Mental conditioning can be used to suppress sensory overload. No point in having your super solider curl up screaming because he has super hearing. And you threw him into an active warzone. Lets make sure you can't process that information in way that would harm you. (Plus I think as a rule primarchs have a tendency to be more sensory seeking than sensory avoidant.)

Hell even their positions in the imperial society could make it easier to mask. If Perturabo wants something done in a certain way, you are going to do it that way. You're just some 25 year old iron warrior or serf that needs to follow command. Plus you don't know best compared to a primarch.

Of course they mask in typical ways. Mortarion hasn't rocked when upset since he was young. Because Nacrae told him that he should avoid such weakling behavior. Or still show more obvious traits like Dorn's flatter speaking style. (IDK how true this is but everyone says this and I'm not too familiar with Dorn to say otherwise.)

Also I like to imagine that the Emperor intentionally placed Autism into some of his designer babies. Thinking he could "avoid all the negatives but only gain those traits that would benefit them greatly." Only for his patience to slowly be drained. Like Perturabo having a meltdown while Dorn is trying to get the two of them to work together. But he's lost the ability to mask what little he does. And is just going, "We are to conclude this activity in an hour. I have to calibrate the ships sensors in an hour and half. You have already wasted 10 minutes. We must refocus so we can conclude in an hour..."

The problem start when understanding what's going on under the surface. Or when you start comparing them to their brothers. But hey you're below understanding what a primarch is thinking. And all the primarchs are little off. They're demigods. What makes these one's so different. Doesn't help they themselves won't consider it themselves. Or even be insulted by the implication. I'm not an invalid. Don't be ridiculous.

(I used Perturabo, Dorn, and Guilliman here because they're the common ones head cannoned as autistic. I went with Mortarion as well because I decided to just go with it. I know him the best. Plus this is all just headcannon. Just to be clear. Reasoning being his kids tend to present with a flat personality anyways. Also heard Mortarion was always behind his brothers, so developmental delays?? Idk yet where they got that in lore yet. Trying to get through all the books is a lot. Plus his other strange behaviors. But it could just be poor socialization as a child mixed with mental illness. Could also just be all three too. But more than these four could be autistic is my point. Sorry if this post was rambling or unclear. Or if anyone has done this before. I just wanted to get my thoughts out on the subject.)

[candiid-caniine]

support needs and sex

having trouble with words recently. during this, I don't post much. have autism, have talked about it here before, but only small things.

but lots of frustration recently about representing. how people with low support needs have louder voices. people with cute, quirky autism get represented more because neurotypicals don't feel as uncomf. still they have their struggles but you know. middle to high support needs are uncomf. have to hide, have to be quiet. people with low support needs, also sometimes think *their* autism is *all* autism. don't want to talk about mid/high supports people, or be associated.

but, speech loss bad enough that I don't want to go into it today. stick to what is doable.

autistic people have sex. autistic people do kink. lot of positivity here about this. i've seen it. you've seen it. you've seen me also do it.

but autism in sex, not just:

cute stimming because sex feels good

sensory overload, in a good way

hard to speak because of good feelings

person getting flustered/shy/nervous

not only cute. not only shy. not only because of good feelings.

autism can be ugly, scary, difficult, bad communicating, hard to know how to support, getting in the way.

for me:

speech loss; not cute speech loss because of good feelings, speech loss because life is exhausting; exhausted, don't want to have sex

handling rejection poorly. have to use a lot of energy to keep from being a bad partner because of overreacting

sensory overload because good, but i dissociate because sensory overload

use sex to escape bad feelings, not in a healthy coping way

can't explain why i react poorly. in most circumstances. but also happens around sex

frustration because i can't think how to explain

meltdown because so frustrated

cycle repeats

have trouble understanding un-firm versions of "no" (have to work hard to communicate with partner, and i do, but hard work af)

have trouble understanding "maybe"

have trouble predicting how i "will/would" feel

thus frustration. meltdown. cycle resumes

or, know what i want; don't know how to explain

AND YET: i am not:

too dysfunctional for sex/relationship

"basically a child"/too immature

unsafe person

too fucked up for marriage

bad person for dating

someone who should avoid sex until burnout ends

...because i am adult. my partner is an adult. we talk about things. we know good expectations. i don't lie about can/can't do things. they don't lie about can/can't do things.

sex is only one slice of this. this blog is about sex, so i post it here. but these issues are big in my life. need support in school, in work; i seem so functional to a stranger, but only because support needs are met.

support needs met = big privilege. i acknowledge this. not so easy for many people, who seem less functional to others, only because support needs not met.

anyway. conclusion:

neurotypicals/non-autistics: don't expect sex + relationships with autistics to be like sexy imagine posts on tumblr. can be sometimes, but often not.

autistics, even: don't expect sex + relationships with other autistics to be like sex + relationships for you.

low support needs autistics: you guys have a problem. (maybe technically i am you guys, don't really know, so maybe *we* have a problem.) some of you don't like when autism represented as mid-high support. don't like to think you're like us. not cool. either way stop speaking like *your* autism is *all* autism. if you have energy + time + emotional resource to do so, tell off other low support needs when they act like this.

high/mid support needs: i see you. you belong. you deserve healthy, good sex if you are adult. support needs =/= being unworthy/not well enough/not functional enough for relationship. possible to have relationships that work for you, allow for the kind of support you need, from other person/medical team/support system. don't mask to get through relationship. hurts you, you should be loved for who you are.

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

Autism Burnout: and the Mismatch of Support

Laura Hellfeld Neurodivergent Nurse Consulting

[neurodivergent-willow]

taking a break from posting - will be back once life is more stable

Introduction!

🇵🇸 I support Palestine here is a link to a lot of GFMs for Palestinians 🇵🇸

🌸things about me

My name is willow!

Diagnosed with ASD in early adolescence

I am nonverbal due to regression caused by autistic burnout when i had just turned 13

I have middle rate daily care DLA and Im M-HSN,

and have had significant needs needing a lot of services since I was 11

My special interest is the hunger games :D

I am cis female, my pronouns are she/her

My side blog I talk about THG and I reblog things is @i-love-the-hunger-g4mes

🌼How my life looks

I'm housebound due to autism/autistic burnout, I leave home very Rarely normally about once every few months but depends, I can't do things like go to doctor appointments, shops, therapy clinics or go to hospital unless life or death, but can occasionally go out about once every few months

I left school in early adolescence and have very complicated journey with school!

I have a (draft) EHCP with EOTAS! This is a form of formal special education for people who cant attend school

I am in recovery from severe autistic burnout, I have been in this current burnout for about 2 or 3 years (depending on how you look at it) no where near recovered sadly.

🪻boundaries

You are allowed to spam like/reblog my blog and go through my blog i find that fine and yay!!

I struggle to read walls of text/a lot of text-if you reblog or send an ask with walls of text thats fine but i probably wont be able to understand fully all of it and only a little

I am still experiencing skill regresssions and my ability to remember and explain things and learned has regressed, some skills i have get better while others get worse things i could write and explain in the past i cant anymore sadly.

But i may be able to in the future, my skills get worse and better depending on many things.

🌷other things to know

I try to post once a day, i Queue (almost) all my posts!

I try to post in short lines it makes it easier for me to write/proof read and i hope it also helps my posts be easier understood

I have a community with my friend for people with HrSN autism here is the link if you want to join

(You dont have to meet any requirements (you dont have to post anything at all or prove yourself as real) to join its just because we don't want lots of bots)

https://www.tumblr.com/join/EXv0fMgT

[zebulontheplanet]

could you elaborate on the difference between regression and burnout? (if you want)

Hey! I have a few posts on this but sure, I can explain it again!

Late autism regression is usually caused by something called Autism Catatonia. I’ll put some links below about it.

Autism catatonia is a serious condition that involves the slow start of regression in developmental and social aspects. Someone with autism catatonia will start to develop catatonia, as the name suggests. The person will freeze before and sometimes after tasks, they will have trouble completing tasks, need extensive prompting or hand over hand help, and more. The person will also start to decline in social aspects, from isolation, to aggressive behaviors, to just generally declining in all areas involving social interaction. They will also start to decline in the ability to do skills, for example; forgetting how to shower, forgetting how to do certain things, etc etc. The person might also start to decline in speech, and in some cases, lose their ability all together.

Mood decline is also very common, from aggressive behaviors, to depressive like behaviors. The person will have also episodes of catatonia, such as freezing. The person might also have trouble doing tasks and going over thresholds.

Autism catatonia is very complex and not a lot of professionals know a lot about it so it’s good to speak with a professional that is knowledgeable in it if you suspect you have it. Please keep in mind that autism catatonia is rare. And is not the same as executive dysfunction. It is often treated with medication and in more severe cases, ECT.

Burnout is much much different. It’s caused by masking. And over time as someone masks to conform to society, they start to feel burnt out. This CAN lead to some loss in skills, however with time, healing, rest, and accommodations and unmasking, it can lead to you getting pretty much back to normal or at least get you to where you want to be. Burnout is also serious, but it is much different from autism regression.

Again, I’m not a professional, my information might not be 100%. I’d google more about it and research more! There are a ton of resources on autism burnout, and a few on regression. Please do not try and self diagnosis autism regression with catatonia, it is so serious and shouldn’t be taken lightly.

AGAIN. IM NOT A PROFESSIONAL. THIS IS JUST FROM MY PERSONAL RESEARCH AND EXPERIENCES.

https://asatonline.org/research-treatment/clinical-corner/catatonia/

[jev-urisk]

A Musing Monday 🎐

Today’s musing is solely upon The Autism Creature. You know,

this critter. And like.. I do get it to a point. If I had a pretty penny for all the times I felt like this critter looks when stuff is happening around me- overstim, not getting the joke, not knowing what's expected of me, knowing but electing not to engage- I could pave my driveway with those coins. 💰

But like.. I want more ❤️‍🔥. I have so many flavors in my autistic experience and while pics or videos of cats provide a lot- it's not enough. I have want creature.

So anyway I found my personal Autism creature on Saturday;

This is Autism Burnout Causing Multiple Shutdowns Creature 😃 It can't speak, it'd like to cry but for whatever reason isn't, it's frozen, unable to process a damn thing. I wanted to steal him from the Dreamwalk Park I found him in and love it forever.

In all seriousness, though- the simple drawing that has been attributed to Autism is so SO important. In a community where many of us struggle to put words to our feelings, ideas, or sometimes literally anything- having this meme that so many relate to is incredible. I don't think I'm eloquent enough to really explain how important it is that we have tokens such as this to enrich our acceptance and collective expressions of being Autistic.

Just a little thought I've been musing on. ✨️

Amusing Monday Tag: @the-golden-comet @gioiaalbanoart (hmu to be +/- to this taglist).

[euphraisette]

Valjean is autistic but he thinks he’s broken

Fauchelevent is autistic and he hasn’t the slightest clue

Fantine’s only exposure to autism was when her friends would call her slurs

Cosette doesn’t know what autism is but she knows she has something to hide

Marius doesn’t think he’s autistic because he’s never been vaccinated

Javert doesn’t know what autism is and would arrest you for trying to explain that he has it

Èponine just thinks she’s ugly and evil and people secretly hate her by default

Grantaire jokes that he’s autistic and has no idea he’s right

Prouvaire researches his own autism obsessively and will infodump about it to anyone who will listen

Combeferre was diagnosed when he was two

Bahorel is basically just riding out gifted kid burnout with his parents’ money

Joly is afraid to get diagnosed because what if it’s actually ADHD or bipolar or NPD or schizophrenia or a tumor or something like how many tests does he have to pay for

Bossuet got misdiagnosed as neurotypical when he got evaluated because he answered some of the questions wrong

holy shit this is actually actually perfect wtf

the girls are so sad and true esp cosette and eponine

and also marius... im fucking cackling

[pageadaytale]

BOOK REVIEW - Unmasking Autism: The Power of Embracing our Hidden Neurodiversity by Dr Devon Price

My third book this year was an eye-opening treatise on living with masked autism, trying to present as neurotypical when you're not, and the difficulties one can face as a result. I've often ended up feeling burnt out, exhausted, unable to do anything after even short periods of work, and reading Unmasking Autism brought a lot of familiar feelings to the surface that I had forgotten.

Too often we forget that the world is not made for us - the grind of daily 9-5, social obligations full of unwritten rules, and tedious tasks which seem utterly pointless, all serve to drain the energy of neurodivergent folk. For myself, I've struggled to hold down jobs and work without experiencing severe burnout as a result of my undiagnosed mental conditions. This book has finally explained why.

Dr Devon Price is an austistic social psychologist, and he's put his career to excellent use to construct a field guide to living with autism from the inside out. Too often, mental health conditions are diagnosed and researched from outside, with the scientist's demand for a dispassionate eye; Dr Price proves that lived experience can be invaluable to expanding our understanding of mental health, as he takes us through the history of autism research and explores the lived experiences of autistic individuals who have lived for many decades without a diagnosis. He calls out autism as currently viewed as a rich, white, male disorder, a problem codified by the eugenicist researchers who originally named it, and explores the condition in greater depth and scope, examining how it manifests in women and people of colour. He also looks at society as a whole, how it is structured to exclude those with autism and other disabilities, and points out how we can change all this to better support and encourage autistic people.

Overall this was an eye-opening book. It was greatly detailed and there were points where I found myself pausing in the realisation that Dr Price was expounding on a topic I had struggled with for much of my life. It has the problem that is quickly becoming familiar - that the chapters are too long to comfortably read in one sitting, and it feels as though Dr Price would try to find too many examples to demonstrate a topic at times. But for an examination of masking as an autistic person, and a guide to autism from someone who understands it with their whole life, it's a unique and long-overdue book.

[autisticlee]

I did my first case manager meeting to try to get help for autism/disability. we talked about what I need/what she can help me with and about goals for us to meet.

I guess her job is to work towards helping me ~improve my skills and become independent to where i no longer need help~

anyone else have a case manager? is that standard?

because....the problem is I AM technically independent now. I never get help or support and have been forced to do things alone my whole life despite how overwhelming and frustrating and exhausting it is. it's too hard and takes too much out of me. things never go right or get worse and it takes me so long to recover from simple/normal things

so I think I need constant help to make things easier because my issues aren't really things I can work on improving, that im aware of. pretty sure they're things i'm stuck with for life. I can't make my autism go away fbbdhhfhdjdd

that's how all these types of things seem to work. all the help/support things are always meant to be temporary. it's "work to improve so you don't need help anymore" rather than just getting the help and support you lack and need so you can have a more stable life and easier time when your disability is for life 😭 like how physical therapy is "get your injury better so you no longer need pt" and not "manage your life long condition and keep it monitored so it doesn't get worse"

so I think I still need to trick someone into being my life partner to help me through life lmao but she said she can help me find local things to go to and try to make connections and meet people so maybe I can trick people into being my friends and doing things for me fhfhddgdhjsskI

know her job isn't like long term take care of me and my issues but that's what I feel I need. I don't think I can train myself to make phone calls easier, train my auditory processing and sensory issues away, mask my autism away, etc. so what do I do? try to improve these things anyway and burn out even more like last time i tried to appear "more independent" while trying to get some help?

this is the only "autism help/support" available at all! and it's not even autism specific. the lack of help and support for autism is appalling. she explained her job and services are for people with mental health disorders like anxiety to give them skills and make them more confident and independent. autism isn't a disorder that can be overcome. so....?????? idk I just try anyway I guess? I have no other options 😭

I was told a case manager is supposed to help coordinate with places for me like make phone calls/appointments, go to appointments to communicate to doctors for me. but she says she can do that, but ultimately her job is to teach me how to do it myself. I know how in theory since i've been forced to do everything for almost 15 years with no help. but I just struggle and nothing goes right and I keep burning out so fast and so intensely that I completely lose even simple skills like showering regularly 😭

guess I misunderstood how it's supposed to work or something and not sure how to approach it besides try to force myself to learn how to not be overwhelmed and overstimulated and bad at everything?????

anyone else, autistic especially, do case management and have advice? want to share your journey? how did it help you? did it improve your struggles? did you gain the ability to do things alone easily like make phone calls and drive and process conversation and remember words and control burnout and sensory overload?