Day 27: Meltdowns

I gotta confess, I know very little about this topic except what I have read. Autistic persons are often very sensitive to certain things - lights, noise, smells - even foods and clothing or other tactile issues. As such, the can get very overwhelmed with a lot of sensory input that the rest of us can ignore for the most part.

Here is a video that attempts to simulate what the feeling of sensory overload is like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr4_dOorquQ&sns=em

What happens when you get too much sensory overload? Well, think about being tired, irritable, and generally overloaded with a lot of responsibility and you have five kids screaming and running around the house, four cats begging to be fed, a dog that needs to be walked, and a parrot that won't stop squawking. You're doing just fine, but then the smoke alarm goes off because your husband left the oven on and the pizza is burning. At that point, you want to just curl up into a ball because you've pretty much had it. Calgon, take me away!

You just want FIVE MINUTES AWAY from all this and you can't find it. That's a meltdown.

Meltdowns are NOT tantrums. Tantrums are when a child tries to get their way by crying or throwing a fit to see if that behavior will get them what they want. A meltdown is a reaction to overstimulation. The reason I bring that up is because you may see a child having a meltdown in public and confuse it with a tantrum and then give the evil sideye to the parents.

I've never seen a meltdown - not that I know of - But what I have read is that they may strike out or some curl up into a ball. Knowing that the environment you are in could cause a meltdown and watching for the signs of one (increased pacing, perhaps, or started looks and nervousness) can give you a clue that one is coming and you can head it off by giving the person down time.