Tim Thornton
Autisticburnout’describesastateofdebilitatingphysical,mental,andemotionalexhaustion experiencedbyautisticpeople,resultingfromdemandsassociatedwithbeingautisticandlivinginapredominantlynon-autisticworld.Thesedemandscanincludeoverwhelmingsensory stimuli,socialandcommunicationdifferences,unexpectedchangestoroutines,andalackof reasonableaccommodations[1-4].Consequencesofautisticburnoutincludereducedtolerancetosensorystimuli,difficultieswithself-careandspeech,socialwithdrawal,andmore markedautisticcharacteristics.Autisticburnoutcanpersistformonthsorevenyears,limiting participationinwork,study,andsocialactivities[1-4].Moreover,itcanaffectautisticpeople acrossthelifespan,fromchildhood[5]tolateadulthood,andseverelyimpacttheirmental health,wellbeing,independence,andqualityoflife[1-4].Whiletheprevalenceofautistic burnoutremainsunknown,itisestimatedthatthereareapproximately78millionautisticpeopleworldwide[6];thus,evenaconservativeestimateof1-2%prevalenceofburnoutsuggests thatoveramillionautisticindividualscouldbeimpacted.Myriadanecdotalreportsimplythis figurecouldbemuchhigher.
