Meltdowns are caused by a sudden impact of energy throughout the body that overwhelms an Autistic persons ability to concentrate. This impact of energy generates from sensory overload in which too much is happening within that environment initiating a rapid response by the individual as a self-preservation mode.
- Sounds
- Lighting
- Voices
- Movement
- Smells
are part of every environment that can cause a meltdown, due to being faced with all this commotion daily.
All Autistic individuals are different in which many can bypass all the commotion and get on with their tasks, as they may be under sensitive to tone of voice, sounds etc. It is those who are over sensitive who can only take in so much information that they cannot stimulate themselves no more.
You basically feel everything around you:
- Clothing you are wearing
- A slight touch hurtful to the point of causing you to have sensory overload.
You may have seen Autistic children, teenagers and adults having a panic attack in the department store or many public arenas. You may have thought that some of them were screaming for something that they craved but could not have as they: threw themselves to the floor, lashed out at carers, family or friends, but this is a sensory overload in which there is no return.
If you can escape to a recognisable safe place or are allowed to curl up and hide underneath something, this could actually help to calm you to the point of being able to regulate and bring yourself back to a quiet normality. Sensory overload is a well known factor amongst the Autistic community.
What other People Say
Many parents and caregivers have witnessed the fireworks of anger and emotion from a person with autism and from the outside they look exactly like tantrums of young children. While they may look similar in external behaviour, it is important to understand the difference between the two.
A tantrum is wilful behaviour in younger children and therefore can be shaped by rewarding desired behaviours whereas a meltdown can occur across a lifespan and is not impacted by a rewards system. Tantrums slowly go away as a child grows up, but meltdowns may never go away.
Of course children with autism can have classic temper tantrums, but understanding the difference is important because tantrums need one kind of response, but that same response will only make things worse for a person having an autistic meltdown from being overwhelmed by sensory stimuli. By: Maureen Bennie
A meltdown is an intense response to overwhelming circumstances – a complete loss of behavioural control. People with autism often have difficulty expressing when they are feeling overly anxious or overwhelmed, which leads to an involuntary coping mechanism- a meltdown.
There is not a simple one word answer for what causes a meltdown. Meltdowns are just as individual as the unique personalities people are born with.
Move to a quiet place away from stimulation that may have evoked the overload until the meltdown is over. When you are in a public area, this requires pre-planning such as knowing where a quiet place is that you can go to. Also pack a survival kit of familiar and soothing items that are favourite coping mechanisms. RDIconnect
Silent Assassin 