6 Results in shutdown

The 4 phases of a meltdown

Having done quite a lot of research into the subject, I started to see that there may be a trend in the way autistic people experience meltdowns. The trend that I noticed was that there seems to be different 'phases' of a meltdown. I wonder whether if people are able to identify these phases and understand them, they will be able to anticipate and manage their meltdowns better. Might it also be true that if someone identifies and treats a meltdown early on then some 'symptoms' might be prevented? A person might also find that they will be able to anticipate the duration of their 'attacks', which can help them better plan their life and know when they'll be back to normal.

The work-life balance: how to achieve it

Working or studying full time exhausts me to the point where I am not normally able to do much else during evenings and weekends. I know that a lot of neurotypical people say their work is tiring but I observe that most neurotypical people can still have a 'life' during evenings and weekends. This is in comparison to autistic people. I have read so many autistic people's experiences of work and education and how it completely exhausts them or leads to burnout. 'Free time' ends up being 'recovery time' and relationships, hobbies and 'life' suffer.

How to cope when you can’t do the things you love

Nobody likes it when they have to stop doing something they love doing for a reason outside their control. For example, having to stop exercising because you have an injury or being unable to sew because you have arthritis. Or what about no longer being able to do something because you physically moved away? These experiences are upsetting and perhaps even more upsetting for people on the autistic spectrum.

How to help someone who is in shutdown

In comparison to meltdowns, shutdowns are not talked about much in literature about autism. For many people on the autistic spectrum and their families however, shutdowns are a significant aspect to learn to cope with. What are shutdowns? They might be different for different people but some things to look out for might be: Becoming unresponsive Being unable to talk Being unable to think A need to be alone Appearing 'lost in one's own mind' A massive lack of physical and mental energy

Different behaviours at home vs when out

One of the most common things I hear from parents is that their child is well behaved at school but has terrible outbursts at home. Because the teachers don't see these difficult behaviours, it might cause them to disbelieve the parents or not believe there are any 'problems.' Similarly with adults, an adult may get on very well at work and appear friendly and kind to their co-workers, yet can behave very differently and be difficult at home. Professor Tony Attwood refers to this as the Jekyl and Hyde character. It has been highlighted in many sources that individuals on the autistic spectrum display significantly different behaviours in different settings. In this article I will look at some reasons why this might occur and how the people around the ASD individual could better support them.

Difficulties and triggers vs likes and needs

One of the most helpful things about knowing I am autistic, is gaining understanding of things that help me and things that hinder me. Once I understood what are my difficulties and triggers, and my likes and needs (specifically, the things that make me gain social energy), I became aware of my limitations and was able to adjust my lifestyle. There are a lot of things I can do, but I don't (or I won't) do them. This is the way I live. It enables me to live a happy life and I achieve a lot of things. For me, putting limits on my lifestyle has been very enabling. In this article, I wanted to show why limitations can actually be a good thing.