Published on 12, July, 2020
I can't stand it...I think it's such an invalidating term, and as a 21-year-old woman I hate it when it's applied to me and my behaviour because it sounds like people are referring to a toddler tantrum: 'meltdown' sounds too frivolous a term for what is such a distressing experience for many people. However, most autistic people I've spoken to don't seem to mind it and freely apply it to themselves, so I'd be really interested to hear what people on here think.
Anyway...I hope you've all had a lovely bank holiday and that you have a good week. :)
I'm wondering if it comes from nuclear meltdowns, which wouldn't be belittling at all but rather the opposite? The chain reaction gone out of control thing would make some sense, in a way. And being described as a "reactor", not in the technical sense but as in reacting to something rather than just being inappropriate in itself seems quite fitting too, now that I think about it... I don't like the term either though, because it is used mostly in the way you describe. I don't really get them anymore but did as a child and the closest I can compare it with now is a panic attack really, only that the "bad" feeling was so intense that I didn't even know what it was while now it is more distinctively fear. Perhaps a term that implies that comparability to a panic attack would be better because if people understood it that way they would perhaps react differently and judge a little less.