#askingautistics

Anyone know of a good explanation of the difference between an #AutisticMeltdown and a panic attack? I think I can explain it myself, but a short explainer I could share with people would be handy. I wish there were more awareness of what autistic meltdowns are, especially how they aren't the same as tantrums, panic attacks, and maybe a few other things they get mistaken for. I think a lot of unnecessary damage gets inflicted on us because people don't understand what meltdowns are or how to deal with them. #ActuallyAutistic #autistic #AskingAutistics

I've suspected for a while that I'm probably on the spectrum. It seems to fluctuate, but for the past few days I've been experiencing something that sounds very much like what I understand autistic burnout to be like. Tasks which should be simple (e.g.: feeding myself) become insurmountable obstacles. I'm exhausted all the time, and when it's at its most acute, communicating what I'm experiencing becomes impossible. I literally lose the ability to form coherent sentences. Is that what this is? Do others experience this? And more importantly, has anyone found any kind of strategies to help manage/minimize it? The best way I've found to deal with it is to simply disengage from everything until I manage to build up a spoon reserve again. Unfortunately, this does not exactly seem compatible with the responsibilities of adulthood. #AskingAutistics Edit: I realize that I may have given an incorrect impression in this post. I have experienced this before. It's just been particularly bad the past few days. It seems to ebb and flow. In fact, I've had a term to describe this since high school. At the time, I had dubbed it a "neural meltdown".

My fifth grader is going through a wringer, which will surely only increase next year, sixth grade, new school. He's undiagnosed-probably-definitely-autistic with a big tender heart. And certain kids (who used to be friends) are doing little things that cut him to the bone, probably(?) because they know they can get a rise out of him. I know what I did to survive school at his age, but I don't know my strategies were best. How do you advise your kid so as to minimize normie-inflicted trauma and preserve the availability and tenderness of that beautiful ND heart? What strategies do you advise? How do you prevent hiding, masking, toughening and shame? #actuallyAutistic #askingAutistics @autistics@fedigroups.social

Let’s talk tags on clothing. I hate them and they annoy me to no end. And even if I cut them off, the tiny bit remaining always manages to touch me and I hate it. Do tags bother you? #AskingAutistics #ActuallyAutistic image: unknown