For individuals with ASD, overstimulation can feel like an overwhelming flood of sensory input. This can manifest in a variety of ways, including physical discomfort, anxiety, irritability, or even physical pain. Some common signs of autistic overstimulation include: Covering ears or eyes.
Overstimulation (OS) occurs when there is “too much” of some external stimulus or stimuli for a person's brain to process and integrate effectively. This leads to an unpleasant sensation of being flooded and an impulse to escape the stimulus – or, failing that, to cry or scream or thrash about.
This can be triggered by a single event, like an unexpected loud noise, or it can build up over time due to the effort it takes to cope with sensory sensitivities in daily life. Sensory overload can feel like intense anxiety, a need to escape the situation or difficulty communicating.
Many children with autism are very sensitive to their environments and it can be hard for them to filter out sensory information that comes in. This sensitivity sometimes leads to overstimulation, which can make your child distressed and sometimes cause a meltdown.
Meltdowns are not the only way an autistic person may express feeling overwhelmed. They may also refuse to interact, withdrawing from situations they find challenging or avoiding them altogether.
Autistic people in burnout describe feeling exhausted and depleted. As if all of their internal reserves have been used up. These symptoms are not better explained by being physically unwell, malnourished, or having engaged in excessive exercise.
They may not respond to communication anymore, retreat to their room or lie down on the floor. They may also no longer be able to move from the situation they are in, no matter what it is (for example, a shopping centre or a classroom). Shutdowns tend to be more discreet than meltdowns, and may sometimes go unnoticed.
Up to 90 percent of people with autism are either overly sensitive to sound, sight, taste, smell or touch, or barely notice them at all. Some seek out sensations by, for example, spinning in circles or stroking items with particular textures.
Overstimulation is not only a symptom of ADHD; it's often seen in autistic people as well. People with ADHD and autistic people may display similar signs of hyperactivity when overstimulated, such as being extra reactive to sensory input (i.e., becoming fascinated by a specific object or fixating on a sensation).
Many children with autism have auditory sensitivities to specific sounds, such as a fire engine, baby crying, or toilet flushing. Covering their ears is one way to lessen the auditory input.
Many people with autism have difficulty processing everyday sensory information. They can be either hyper sensitive (over-reactive) or hypo sensitive (under-reactive) to sensory input, or experience fragmented or distorted perceptions. A person's responses to sensory experiences may fluctuate from one day to the next.
During a meltdown, we found that most autistics described feeling overwhelmed by information, senses, and social and emotional stress. They often felt extreme emotions, such as anger, sadness, and fear, and had trouble with thinking and memory during the meltdown.
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.
posturing – holding hands or fingers out at an angle or arching the back while sitting. visual stimulation – looking at something sideways, watching an object spin or fluttering fingers near the eyes. repetitive behaviour like opening and closing doors or flicking switches.
Autistic children commonly avoid social touch more than non-autistic peers. It is generally thought that this is due to autistic individuals experiencing hyper- or hyposensitivity of touch.
People with autism spectrum disorder are sometimes said to lack empathy (the ability to feel along with others) and/or sympathy (the ability to feel for others). While this stereotype is often used to describe all people with autism, these challenges are not experienced by everyone on the spectrum.
Some people who are overstimulated may experience extreme emotional or even physical discomfort. They may display extreme irritability, anxiety, or fear. Some may voice their discomfort by crying or throwing tantrums. Or, they may even show aggression.
In particular, subjects with ASD can display momentary behaviors of acute agitation and aggressiveness called crisis behaviors. These events are problematic for the subject and care providers but little is known about their occurrence, namely, possible relations among intensity, frequency, and duration.
ASD Level 3 – On the most severe end of the spectrum is Level 3 which requires very substantial support. Signs associated with both Level 1 and Level 2 are still present but are far more severe and accompanied by other complications as well.