Meltdowns are a horrible thing to experience. You might think that the consequences of these thoughts should be enough of a deterrent to head off the meltdown but that’s just not how they work. They fuel my anxiety and speed up that loss of control. Am I disturbing them? Am I making them feel uncomfortable? Are the going to view me as immature or irrational? Will this hurt my career prospects? These are the thoughts that are spiralling through my mind. ![]() ![]() I can only speak for myself, but when I have a meltdown or when I can feel myself heading for one, I get very worried about the impact on other people. Telling an autistic person to up their resilience isn’t helpful. They can happen at anytime and can be caused by a number of factors including: environmental stimuli, stress, uncertainty, rapid and impactful change and much more. Meltdowns are emotional avalanches that run their course whether you or the autistic person having it likes it or not. It doesn’t last long but once triggered, there’s no stopping it. It is the complete loss of emotional control experienced by an autistic person. It’s not a tantrum and it’s not something a small child does several times a day- unless of course that child is autistic. Here’s what we’d like you to know.Ī meltdown is not a word you use to describe a bad day. Meltdowns are tidal waves of sensory overwhelm. ![]() If I meltdown, the best thing you can do is be present, patient, calm, quiet, and compassionate. It is a response to overwhelm, anxiety, and stress. Prolonged sensory overwhelm can lead to meltdown.
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