Being autistic can make fatigue and burnout more likely, due to the pressures of social situations and sensory overload. If your child or the person you care for is experiencing fatigue or burnout, helping them to manage their energy levels is essential, as this guide explains.
Autistic people, however, can be more susceptible to both, due to the pressures of everyday life, having to navigate social situations and sensory overload. Trying to cope with these pressures can lead to exhaustion (autistic fatigue) and over time this can lead to extreme exhaustion or autistic burnout.
''Autistic burnout is a state of physical and mental fatigue, heightened stress, and diminished capacity to manage life skills, sensory input, and/or social interactions, which comes from years of being severely overtaxed by the strain of trying to live up to demands that are out of sync with our needs. ''
People with autism tend to have insomnia: It takes them an average of 11 minutes longer than typical people to fall asleep, and many wake up frequently during the night. Some people with the condition have sleep apnea, a condition that causes them to stop breathing several times during the night.
While a full night's sleep might not give you as much REM sleep as a neurotypical person, it's certainly worth your while to make sure get a full seven to eight hours of sleep each night. 5.
Autistic people experience specific difficulties with memory and memory strengths. While memory difficulty is not part of the diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), it is a common symptom experienced by many autistic people.
In many ways an autistic meltdown mimics burnout. However, meltdowns happen more frequently during childhood and can last for minutes to hours. Autistic meltdowns can be external and include aggressive behavior, agitation, or extreme emotional responses.
What does an 'autism meltdown' look like? Some signs that a loved one is having or nearing a meltdown may include: being irritable, which can include shouting or physical aggression. fidgeting or stimming more (repetitive movements or noises)
It happens when someone becomes completely overwhelmed by their current situation and temporarily loses control of their behaviour. This loss of control can be expressed verbally (eg shouting, screaming, crying), physically (eg kicking, lashing out, biting) or in both ways.
People with autism sometimes may have physical symptoms, including digestive problems such as constipation and sleep problems. Children may have poor coordination of the large muscles used for running and climbing, or the smaller muscles of the hand. About a third of people with autism also have seizures.
Masking may help at times, but regular masking can have serious effects on mental and physical health. This may include anxiety, depression, exhaustion, a loss of identity, and suicidal thoughts.
Main signs of autism
finding it hard to understand what others are thinking or feeling. getting very anxious about social situations. finding it hard to make friends or preferring to be on your own. seeming blunt, rude or not interested in others without meaning to.
So far, researchers have learned that periods of autistic burnout can last a long time (weeks, months, or years) and that some people never fully recover.
Meltdowns are similar to the fight response. When an autistic person is having a meltdown they often have increased levels of anxiety and distress which are often interpreted as frustration, a 'tantrum' or an aggressive panic attack.
A recent study by UC Davis MIND Institute researchers found that the severity of a child's autism symptoms can change significantly between the ages of 3 and 11. The study was published in Autism Research, and built on previous work by the same researchers on changes to autism characteristics in early childhood.
Most children will display a lack of social responsiveness. This might present as limited eye-contact, no acknowledgment of others', and rare smiling. Children with autism generally have a hard time comprehending facial expressions. Poor nonverbal communication skills are more pronounced in low functioning children.
Level 3 is the most severe level of autism. People with level 3 autism have limited ability to speak clearly. Difficulty with both verbal and nonverbal communication makes it challenging to interact with others. This level of autism requires a higher level of support throughout life.
Anxiety was also strongly correlated with behavior and learning disabilities in children with ASD. ASD patients are prone to stress,24 and considerable evidence indicates that patients with ASD have eggagerated responses to threatening images. Prenatal stress was linked to increased risk of a child developing ASD.
"Because the brain of a child with autism develops more slowly during this critical period of life, these children may have an especially difficult time struggling to establish personal identity, develop social interactions and refine emotional skills," Hua said.
Autism is a neurological developmental disability with an estimated prevalence of one to two percent of the American and worldwide population. The diversity of the disability means that each person's individual experience of autism and needs for supports and services can vary widely.
Autistic people can often have trouble sleeping. There are a range of reasons for this including difficulties with relaxing or winding down and irregular melatonin levels. Problems with sleep can be an issue for both autistic adults and children.
The study found that the average death of an autistic person was age 54, while their matched controls had an average death age of 70 (Bazian 2016). That means, on average, autistic people are dying 16 years earlier than the general population.