Autistic Hedgehog

One’s place on the spectrum can change from day to day, sometimes even from hour to hour. It’s not at all a static thing.

Many things affect our coping abilities. It may be that the past year has been more stressful for you in some way that is depriving you of coping skills, thus requiring you to stim more, causing more meltdowns and making you more sensitive to sensory stimulation. Speaking as someone whose been under a lot of stress this year, I’ve had a number of problems including such raised sensitivity to sensory stimulation that there have been foods I can’t eat. 

Spending time passing can also lower your ability to cope. Really, anything too stress, too traumatic, too painful—all these things can potentially cause heightened symptoms. It can help to find ways to combat the overstimulation: Carry something to stim with if you have any sort of tactile stims (I keep a satin ribbon with me); use an iPod or sound-dampening headphones to cut down on noises that bother you and stress you out; choose clothing that you’re as comfortable as possible in; eat foods with textures that comfort you. (If any of my hedgehogs have any other useful coping methods, hit up my inbox.)

I wouldn’t worry about whether this is some other disorder at this point. It’s perfectly within the nature of autism and we all go through up and down phases when it comes to dealing with everything life throws at us.