03/19/2022
What does it feel like to have an autistic meltdown?
I am sharing this vulnerable moment in hope to educate and create understanding by giving insight into challenges autistics face on a regular basis.
Meltdowns present differently for each autistic.
For me, a meltdown starts when I feel overwhelmed.
When I'm overwhelmed, I cannot think clearly, I lose my ability to communicate and my thought patterns are frozen and stuck in flight mode.
I think people find it difficult to understand how someone like me who can articulate and communicate so very well, suddenly not be able to communicate or interact with the environment around them.
My brain is trying to process what is happening, it's scrambling to come up with a solution for this overwhelming feeling.
But it's too late.
I am no longer in control.
I start to cry uncontrollably, I can not move, I can not explain what is happening.
The sounds coming out of my mouth no longer make sense to those around me.
I have completely shut down.
People usually stop and stare as mum is doing her best to reassure me that this feeling will pass.
I can not hear her words but I know she is there, Iām focusing on trying to self-regulate but this emotion is so intense its consuming me.
I feeling like I am drowning and suffocating.
At this point there is nothing anyone can do.
The meltdown has to run its course.
After a meltdown, I feel tried, drained and confused. This photo is how I self regulate some of the time.
I need to relax , re-centre, process and connect.
* TIP immediately after a meltdown is NOT the time to have a discussion about " behaviour " or a discussion on what has happened, because time has not been given to process the situation.
š Summer
**Please remember this is my own personal perspective, I do not represent every autistic on the planet , as we are all different and experience life differently**
