Being autistic can make fatigue and burnout more likely, due to the pressures of social situations and sensory overload. If you are experiencing fatigue or burnout, managing your energy levels is essential, as this guide explains.
Although fatigue and burnout can happen to anyone, autistic people are more likely to be affected by this. It is often the result of doing more than you can cope with for too long and can be an immediate response to something, or be caused by a build up of things over time.
Hypersomnia, or excessive sleepiness, is common in people with autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Researchers are uncertain whether this is caused by an underlying physiological problem associated with autism.
People with autism spectrum disorder are sometimes described as lacking empathy (the ability to feel along with others) and/or sympathy (the ability to feel for others). While this is a persistent stereotype of all people with autism, these challenges are not experienced by everyone on the spectrum.
Reasoning in people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been characterised as being slower and more effortful than controls. People with ASD show a more circumscribed reasoning bias, and often take longer to make decisions.
Quality of Life (QoL)
Adults with autism seem to have a poorer QoL throughout their lifespan when compared to neurotypical adults, and when measured with instruments designed for the general population (11, 12).
Autistic fatigue has often been described as exhaustion with additional difficulties such as: increased meltdowns and sensory sensitivity. physical pain and headaches. physically shutting down, including the loss of speech.
Being completely silent. Not being able to communicate in any way. Withdrawing to a quiet, dark space to get away from the cause of their shutdown. Not being able to move from where they are because they're thinking too much about the cause of their shutdown.
Decreased balance and coordination, including decreased automatic reactions to keep themselves upright when losing balance, or protect themselves when they fall, which is especially noticeable with increased task difficulty. Poor core strength due to decreased muscle tone, strength and endurance.
Non-autistic people tend to assess concepts before details, also known as top-down thinking. Autistic people take the opposite approach with bottom-up thinking and use details to build concepts. It may take longer to filter out sensory details with this approach, but you're less likely to miss important information.
In a study of autistic adults, the level of ASD traits significantly predicted MD symptoms. Loneliness and difficulties with emotional regulation, though not exclusive to ASD, may contribute to higher levels of daydreaming.
It's something you're born with. Signs of autism might be noticed when you're very young, or not until you're older. If you're autistic, you're autistic your whole life. Autism is not a medical condition with treatments or a "cure".
Sensory Issues
Many people with autism experience sensory processing disorder. This is more commonly known as sensory overload. Noise, crowds, bright lights, strong tastes, smells, and being touched can feel unbearable to someone with HFA. This makes going to restaurants, movies, and shopping malls difficult.
New research finds that the brains of autistic children generate more information at rest -- a 42 percent increase on average. The study offers a scientific explanation for the most typical characteristic of autism -- withdrawal into one's own inner world.
As an autistic person, it can sometimes be difficult to feel like you 'fit in' or to find your place in the world. Because of this, many autistic people can end up being socially isolated and lonely.
Autistic burnout is the “intense physical, mental or emotional exhaustion” that many autistic individuals experience at some point. It can often be accompanied by a temporary loss of skills. That means that something the person could do fine before might now be difficult or impossible for them to do.
not understanding social "rules", such as not talking over people. avoiding eye contact. getting too close to other people, or getting very upset if someone touches or gets too close to you. noticing small details, patterns, smells or sounds that others do not.
While some people with autism merely yell or stamp, many really do become overwhelmed by their own emotions. 3 Bolting, hitting, self-abuse, crying, and screaming are all possibilities. These can be particularly frightening—and even dangerous—when the autistic individual is physically large.
LIfe's chronic agitations and duties aren't always manageable without some level of support from friends, family, and workmates. In instances where none of such people are available, therapy should be considered. On average, it takes about three months for an autistic person to fully recover from their burnout.
Symptoms. Like all people on the autism spectrum, people who are high functioning have a hard time with social interaction and communication. They don't naturally read social cues and might find it difficult to make friends. They can get so stressed by a social situation that they shut down.
difficulties with high-level language skills such as verbal reasoning, problem solving, making inferences and predictions. problems with understanding another person's point of view. difficulties initiating social interactions and maintaining an interaction.
Autistic people may display a range of strengths and abilities that can be directly related to their diagnosis, including: Learning to read at a very early age (known as hyperlexia). Memorising and learning information quickly. Thinking and learning in a visual way.