Since self diagnosing 3 years ago I've started to notice things more 'in the moment' that make me realise that I'm autistic.
Today I had arranged to go to a football game with my gf and her 2 boys. Her youngest boy plays in a kids football team and they're flag bearing at a League 1 game today. I was asked if I'd like to go along as we'd not been to a football game together yet and even though it wasn't our team it seemed like a nice idea.
I was told that we'd need to be there for 11.30am so I assumed it was an early 12pm kickoff. I got picked up at 10.30ish as planned and we got there around 11.30am. The surrounding area was very quiet which seemed odd for a game that should've been starting in 30 minutes, so I asked my gf if it was a 12pm kickoff. She said, "No, it's 3pm, and there's a tour of the ground etc beforehand."
Cue sudden change to plans and pre-meltdown rumble....
I hadn't prepared myself for a full day out and had already worked out in my head that if it was a 12pm kick-off I'd be able to get home around 4pm latest which would give me time to recover from any overwhelm and also get some work done before a 9pm bedtime.
Now it seemed that I'd have to add in another 3 hours masking and potential small talk with people I didn't know, plus the sensory overstimulation of the game I'd prepared for, and having no time to do any work when I got home around 7pm and possibly risking shutdown the following day due to exhaustion.
I communicated this to my partner who is always really understanding as we're both autistic and she felt awful that she hadn't communicated this fully to me beforehand, and I felt awful that I was causing a problem but there's no way I could stay without it completely wasting me for 1-2 days after. Luckily she was able to drop me back home and was happy that we could spend some time in the car chatting instead of her having to mask and small talk for a while too. Her boys were happy playing with their team in the mean time and it's a very supportive club so parents will watch all kids if other parents are busy etc.
Luckily a full meltdown was averted and I'm grateful that I was able to recognise the early signs, but it's things like this that make me realise just how autistic I am and how much more in tune with my feelings I need to be simply to function and avoid a system shutdown. I also feel very lucky that I have such an understanding and supportive partner, and she kept reminding me that if the roles were reversed that I'd have done exactly the same for her, which I absolutely would and have done in the past when she's needed support.
Can anyone relate to this, and have you ever felt a meltdown coming on that you were able to avoid or 'catch in time' before it fully took hold and ruined your day?
