Hi everyone, I'm Amythest, and welcome to Ask an Autistic
♪ I want a renaissance ♪
♪ To shine a light ♪
♪ Be the change we want ♪
♪ Set things right ♪
♪ We've been waiting in the dark ♪
♪ For so long ♪
Meltdowns aren't a trait that is exclusive to autism
People with sensory processing disorder or
ADD or ADHD may also experience meltdowns
but in this video I'll be talking about meltdowns as they pertain to autistic people
and autistic experiences
when it comes to preventing meltdowns and helping autistic people through their
meltdowns
the place to begin is really what a meltdown is
A meltdown is a physiological fight or flight response
that happens in the body. Somebody experiencing meltdown will experience these
surges of adrenalin
The body is actually reacting as it would in a life or death situation
The most common cause of meltdowns
The most common reason why an autistic person will reach the point
of meltdown, the point of no return
is something called sensory overload If you haven't yet watched my video on sensory processing
disorder
Please click this link to do so, because you'll need to understand
sensory processing disorder
for the next little bit of what I'm going to talk about
Sensory overload occurs in a person with sensory integration issues. This is
autistic people or people who are not autistic but have
sensory processing disorder. So an autistic person may be
under or over sensitive to stimulation in their environment And this is
lights, noises, sound, smells, etcetera Every autistic person will have
a limit: a threshold of how much sensory stimulation
and negative sensory input they can endure. And keep in mind that this threshold
actually changes day to day. When an autistic person reaches their limit
of sensory input that they can take in, when they get to the point of their
threshold
any extra stimulation or any stimulation beyond that may lead them to
sensory overload. There are a couple of good videos that simulate sensory overload
for somebody who isn't autistic or who doesn't have sensory integration issues, and I'll link
to a couple those in the video description.
Basically, when you reach sensory overload,
your mind is maxed out. When you have sensory integration issues, at the best of
times,
certain noises like metal scraping on metal,
you know, fork against knife is a big one for me, bright light,
crowds of people, textures and clothing that may be scratchy or itchy or just
intolerable
somebody with sensory integration issues, all of these things can actually
cause pain as well discomfort and in somebody with SPD or an autistic person.
When you reach sensory overload, it is ten times worse
every little thing can cause you pain
and your mind is overwhelmed. When somebody reaches the point of sensory
overload
what they really need is to be able to escape as soon as possible
to a safe place usually it's a place that's quiet and dark,
and for me, I like small spaces, because they make me feel safer.
When an autistic person is unable to escape, or
they have to endure more sensory stimulation than their brain can handle,
they will melt down.
Explaining exactly what happens during a meltdown is difficult for two reasons.
Firstly, every autistic person is different, and so they will experience
meltdowns differently. Secondly when a meltdown happens, so much is going on
that it's hard to even suss out what you're feeling
or even remember it later. It's a lot of very strong and very negative emotions.
When I try to explain it to people though, I usually describe it as something like an
adrenaline rush,
and a mental breakdown, and a panic attack, rolled into one.
When an autistic person has a meltdown, they lose control;
they may scream, shout, drop to the ground,
they may throw things, or kick, or punch, they may just
cry and sob inconsolably. They may drop to the floor and be unable to do
anything
other than rock, or pull their hair out. After I have a meltdown,
I feel like I got hit by a truck, and I have a flu,
and I ran a marathon. It's just you feel exhausted
and icky, and after meltdown you are much more emotionally vulnerable.
And so after a meltdown, there's this really crucial time
where an autistic person, or a person with sensory integration issues,
will need to be alone. They may want a little TLC
or, just to be left alone to have some quiet time
to, again, recharge.
The second most common reason that autistic people have meltdowns is
because they've been under
stress, or have been experiencing anxiety
for a prolonged period of time.
Again, like with sensory stimulation, every autistic person will have their own threshold,
the amount of activity, or socializing, or chores,
or schoolwork, or whatever in a day that they can handle.
Something that happens a lot and then I get quite a few messages
about, is, um, a parent will message me
and they'll have a concern, something like
my son or my daughter, they're autistic and they've been having a lot more
meltdowns lately.
And what I usually tell the parent to do is to take a look at their child's
schedule, where, you know, a week out of their life looks like.
How many extracurriculars do they have going on? Are they in
therapy, and if so how often, how long these therapy sessions?
Do they do school? What does that look like? Often is the case
that when there is an increase in meltdowns, there has also been an increase
in responsibilities, or demands, or scheduling in an autistic child's week.
They also may have just started something new. Change is really hard for autistic people.
And even good change, the addition of an activity that
they really like into their routine, can cause stress
on an autistic brain and can lead to meltdown. Every autistic person will need time
alone,
down time to recharge. Unstructured time where they don't
have to socialize with anybody, there's no therapy or school or soccer or
painting class or whatever just time for them
to be by themselves, and to do things they like, and this is often engaging in
special interests.
If an autistic person doesn't have enough unstructured downtime
to balance out the structured demands and extracurriculars,
then stress is building and building and building, and that can lead to meltdown.
It can also lead to autistic burnout in the long-term.
Which is why it's very important for parents to think critically about
their autistic child's schedule, and
does Suzy really need an extra for hours of therapy a week?
or would that time be better spent allowing Suzy to rest and recharge and
replenish your energy levels and get centered again?
Another really big cause of
potential stress in an autistic person, particularly
if that austistic person is nonverbal is
frustration. If you're an autistic person and you have speech dyspraxia,
it's tough enough getting out what you mean when you mean to,
especially in situations of stress, or when
you're in the spotlight. When you're an autistic person who is unable to
communicate with your mouthparts at all,
that frustration is ten times worse, and
when you're an autistic person who can't communicate with your mouthparts, and you
have no method of AAC,
or another way to communicate, it is probably the most frustrating thing in
the world.
You know what you want to say, to understand what the people around you are
saying:
to have something you need to say, and to not be able to communicate.
So for an autistic person who can't speak verbally,
and who has no other way to communicate, imagine the levels of frustration,
and the potential for fear, and anger.
So if you're the parent or loved one of a nonverbal autistic person,
and they don't have a method of communication, it's time to seriously
start looking into
AAC, or alternative and augmentative communication.
Firstly, and I cannot stress this enough, the most important thing when it comes to
to helping autistic people through melt downs is preventing them in the first place.
If an autistic child is having a lot of meltdowns, or the
frequency of meltdowns has increased, this is probably an indication
of an underlying problem that needs to be addressed. A schedule that's too full,
bullying or abuse that's going on, or just
not having enough accommodation and support in their daily life
to deal with things like sensory overload. So it's important not think
of meltdowns as something that just
happens, and that the behavior of autistic people is mysterious and unknowable,
and there's no reason for it, and we can never understand. Because that's not true.
Meltdowns always have a cause, there's always something that contributes to it,
and it's very important to identify the triggers,
and then to see what accommodations you can make to your child's
schedule, to their life, and if they need any additional support.
The other way to prevent meltdowns is to accommodate sensory needs.
The biggest thing is stimming. If you haven't seen my video on stimming please check
out the link here.
When it comes to stimming, it is the best and healthiest way that autistic people
have to self-regulate.
We can block out negative sensory input, or deal with sensory stimulation, through stimming.
It is also a way for us to express ourselves,
so stimming shouldn't be stopped. Accomodating
sensory needs can look like giving an autistic person
or child noise cancelling earphones or ear plugs,
who are in environments where there might be negative auditory input.
For example, I carry earplugs with me in my purse, and I wear them when I'm on the skytrain.
If the autistic person in your life
is sensitive to bright lights, or certain kinds of lighting,
like incandescent lighting or flickering fluorescent lights,
wearing sunglasses or a hat with a brim can be very helpful.
There are some shops sell clothing that is specifically designed for people with
sensory integration issues,
so there aren't any seams or tags that would need to be cut out.
A couple autistic adults I have spoken to have said that second-hand clothes tend to
already have been
worn down to a softer or smoother feel, and so may be
more enjoyable for an autistic person to wear,
and just little things like that, providing clothing that
won't bother an autistic person's sensory defensiveness.
Accomodating someone's sensory needs can also be just
simply not going places where there'll be something
that bothers that person, like avoiding the perfume counter
at the bay if they're sensitive to that kind of thing,
or, choosing a more quiet bistro or family restaurant,
rather than a restaurant that'll be very busy, or have live music playing.
While meltdowns are really hard to deal with, they're not impossible to manage.
through understanding what a meltdown is, you can practice methods
of prevention, preventing a meltdown from happening,
by taking a look at your autistic child's schedule and their life,
and seeing if there is anything that needs to be taken out,
if they have too many activities and need more down time. You can also accommodate
your autistic child's sensory needs by allowing them to do what they need to do:
to wear sunglasses indoors, or to stim in public,
or to be allowed to cover their ears if there's a baby crying,
or another noise that you know will set them off. And the last,
and probably most important thing to remember, is that as hard as autistic
meltdowns are
on an autistic person's family, they are
ten times worse on the autistic person.
And meltdowns, especially an increase in the frequency of meltdowns
in a short amount of time, can be a sign that something
very wrong is going on.
♪ I want a renaissance ♪
♪ To shine a light ♪
♪ Be the change we want ♪
♪ Set things right ♪
♪ We've been waiting in the dark ♪
♪ For so long ♪