Autistic Hedgehog

Stimming can help you stop a meltdown or recover from one, or may occur during one–it’s generally a repetitive movement done for comfort (though plenty of us stim out of happiness or excitement, too). Classic stims are things like rocking or flapping one’s hands, but a number of other behaviors count as well (I tend to like to rub satin ribbon).

The thing about defining a meltdown is that a) they’re not precisely the same for all of us and b) I suspect they change shape and form from childhood to adulthood.

How you meltdown depends entirely on you. You might get angry (this is common in children and is, sadly, often dismissed as tantrums), you might cry, you might scream, you might go completely numb. The most important factor and the thing that distinguishes a meltdown more than anything else, though, is this: You will not care what other people think about you while it’s happening.

This is very important for recognizing what a meltdown is to you. Me, I tend to cry (though in certain situations I cry until I get angry, at which point I often find the strength to get myself through, which is different from when I was younger) and I will sob my eyes out without noticing or caring that there are people all around me. 

In the end, a meltdown occurs when you’re so overwhelmed by something that you can’t handle it anymore, and the response is usually an outburst of emotion (but can be the complete absence of it). Knowing when you yourself are having an actual meltdown is going to take a bit of time and thought on your part. After the dust clears on a particularly emotional moment for you, look back at it. Were you somewhere others could see and didn’t care what they thought of your behavior? Even if you were alone, did it matter to you if someone saw you? Learning to recognize these things will tell you when you’re having a meltdown. 

I’ve never experienced this problem myself, so I have absolutely no idea.

Anyone else have any sort of experience with this kind of thing and/or advice on how to deal with it?

Allistic simply means not autistic.

I don’t hate allistic people. Or more specifically, I don’t hate all allistic people, but I certainly have low patience for the ones mentioned here, who behave in these ways. A lot of times we (that is, autistic people) are told we’re supposed to be nice, to appreciate our so-called allies even when they treat us like crap and say horrible things about us, and those are the allistics we tend to have issues with. (Or the ones who are straight up asshats.)

Anyone is welcome to follow AH, whether they’re autistic or not. However, in the end, this is a place for autistic people to vent their frustrations, and this often means that we’re going to be frustrated with allistic people. If you can understand that and are okay with it, you’re more than welcome to stay. All I ask is that you don’t try to tell us how we’re supposed to feel or act.

I don’t really know for sure, but it wouldn’t surprise me. I have some similar issues. The biggest problem I have is that if my mood is already bad or if I’m not feeling well in some other way, I get terrified to be out on my own. But also, when I’m depressed, it’s easier for me to miss certain social cues and I can be more sensitive to other issues as well.

Anyone else experience something like this?