this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2023
31 points (97.0% liked)

Autism

6867 readers
7 users here now

A community for respectful discussion and memes related to autism acceptance. All neurotypes are welcome.

We have created our own instance! Visit Autism Place the following community for more info.

Community:

Values

  • Acceptance
  • Openness
  • Understanding
  • Equality
  • Reciprocity
  • Mutuality
  • Love

Rules

  1. No abusive, derogatory, or offensive post/comments e.g: racism, sexism, religious hatred, homophobia, gatekeeping, trolling.
  2. Posts must be related to autism, off-topic discussions happen in the matrix chat.
  3. Your posts must include a text body. It doesn't have to be long, it just needs to be descriptive.
  4. Do not request donations.
  5. Be respectful in discussions.
  6. Do not post misinformation.
  7. Mark NSFW content accordingly.
  8. Do not promote Autism Speaks.
  9. General Lemmy World rules.

Encouraged

  1. Open acceptance of all autism levels as a respectable neurotype.
  2. Funny memes.
  3. Respectful venting.
  4. Describe posts of pictures/memes using text in the body for our visually impaired users.
  5. Welcoming and accepting attitudes.
  6. Questions regarding autism.
  7. Questions on confusing situations.
  8. Seeking and sharing support.
  9. Engagement in our community's values.
  10. Expressing a difference of opinion without directly insulting another user.
  11. Please report questionable posts and let the mods deal with it. Chat Room
  • We have a chat room! Want to engage in dialogue? Come join us at the community's Matrix Chat.

.

Helpful Resources

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
BackOnMyBS@lemmy.world
31
What do shutdowns and meltdowns actually look like? (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 year ago by cogitoprinciple@lemmy.world to c/autism@lemmy.world
26 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I have read about shutdowns and meltdowns. But I don't actually get what that looks like in real time.

What I understand is that meltdowns is when someone loses control of their emotions.

Shutdowns are when someone loses the ability to perform certain functions, e.g. the ability to speak.

I was wondering if someone could give a more explicit example, of what that actually looks like?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] rowinxavier@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I can't give you how they look in general terms but I can give you my experiences. I have had shutdowns in overwhelming situations many times and generally it results in a few behaviours. I become mostly silent, certainly not able to articulate complex thoughts, and my remaining speech is often limited to a few phrases, most commonly "I don't know". I would have more trouble looking at a person than usual, sometimes staring off into the void and occasionally I would start to fall asleep or actually pass out. I have been in the middle of an argument with my parents and when they started yelling I just passed out in my chair lent over the kitchen table.

In other situations where it more sensory I have had different experience. On a loud train I found myself having trouble moving and missed my stop trying to get up. On a loud coach (long distance bus) I slept the entire trip and woke up desperate to urinate.

[–] cogitoprinciple@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I can relate to the struggle to process speech, and use it when also experiencing a shut down. However, I haven't passed out from it. I imagine that would be stressful in certain situations.

[–] rowinxavier@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

It would be if conscious... I mean, ultimately it has only happened in the fairly significant past for me. None of this gas been as much of an issue since getting started on Ritalin.