Hi everyone. I’m a parent looking for lived‑experience insight from autistic adults or anyone else familiar with autistic burnout at university.
My daughter is autistic and currently studying away from home. Over the past few months she has become extremely exhausted and appears to be experiencing autistic burnout. Some of the changes I’ve seen are:
- constant total exhaustion and very low capacity
- significant drop in self‑care (food, laundry, basic routines)
- avoiding academic support
- withdrawing from previous interests
- difficulty managing day‑to‑day tasks
She has arranged to start with a new autism mentor soon, and she’s planning to spread some of her academic workload into the summer to reduce pressure. These seem like positive steps, but shes still overwhelmed and withdrawn and her mood seems very low.
I’d really appreciate hearing from autistic adults or parents who’ve been through something similar.
Specifically:
- What supported you or your young person when self‑care became difficult?
- How did you manage this when they were living away from home?
- Are there small, realistic steps that helped during burnout?
I'm hundreds of miles away from her and really worried about her.
Thank you.
