Meltdowns – Whys & Hows… Autism & Relationships 10 Autistic Traits and Experiences in “Love and Mercy” The Brian Wilson Story – The Peripheral Minds of Autism Damage to our physiology is what noise can actually do. We are not being overly dramatic or a brat (what those with Autism are often accused of). So this anxiety and reactivity isn’t necessarily just perceived but is actually happening. What the stress of noise means, in the autism’s world of an over-sensitive physiology and ramped up stress experiences, is that that pain is warning of us of real damage being created in our bodies. If I can’t take a break or get my life out of proper oscillations and can’t avoid noise or sensory/emotional overload, then I can get snappy, defensive, irritated and under very unfortunate circumstances even hostile. They will assume or worry that I must be upset at something or someone. And when I leave a noisy situation like a party to step out to take a break, people will notice that I’m “upset”. In work situations I get accused of all kinds of things. So most people assume the adults or children just want attention, or they can’t control their behavior. It seems absurd to most people that the noise of going to a grocery store could possibly be “painful” to anyone. When the sensory overwhelm is an actual and very real painful experience. The misunderstanding that someone with Autism is just behaving badly, spoiled or crazy. That is the real rub of the experience of sensory meltdowns. “Let me stick a hot poker in your hand, ok? Now I want you to remain calm.” The M Word: We need to talk about adult autistic meltdowns | by Ashlea McKay | Medium I work damn hard to keep them at bay and there are some things you can do to help too. ![]() No matter how uncomfortable, distressed or inconvenienced you may feel, the autistic person having the meltdown is suffering on a whole other level. 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. Learn enough to get involved, but don’t get stuck.Know you’re complicit, but that means you have power.Update your understanding of how change happens.They can happen at anytime and can be caused by a number of factors including: environmental stimuli, stress, uncertainty, rapid and impactful change 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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