Published on 12, July, 2020
Anyone know of any good resources on these subjects? I.e. not descriptive stuff but info on how to help from the outside in the role of parent/carer to young adults? Getting desperate here but reluctant to involve services because they tend not to be very autism friendly or aware.
Working through the various resources, some of which I'd already come across. And I'm wondering - is there anywhere where I can find definitions of specific terms? In particular, I'm looking to differentiate between burnout, chronic burnout, shutdown, catatonia and being "deep in defence mode" (that latter term borrowed from Asperger Experts).
I'd also like more information (if it exists) on how to help someone out of what I think is chronic burnout. i.e. totally closed down, uncommunicative, living in one room, refusing to engage with services. Situation ongoing for some years now and so far I've not found anything to really help.
shutdown - is on two forms like the person is asleep head down on desk for 2 hours to 8 hours, cant communicate or they freeze standing up in the street and cant talk or respond
is this your daughter / son what age? how do they eat ,,, do they go to toilet etc move around house
help out of burnout (autistic ) attached
link 1 from NAS
www.autism.org.uk/.../autistic-adults
link 2
www.spectrumnews.org/.../
link 3
neuroclastic.com/.../
Ah, i though the freezing was catatonia. I'm working on the assumption that what we're strugggling with is chronic burnout. Adult is 26, life mainly limited to one room, poor hygiene, little interaction with anyone inside or outside the home (outside is limited to occasional shopping), chronically fearful, reverse sleeping (to be able to enjoy the house while others are safely asleep?) and avoids other family members as far as possible. Now in this situation for years.
The info I'm seeking would be along the lines of how to support and reconnect with the person whilst all the time working outside services (which in the past proved to be damaging anyway). i.e. family case studies from those who've come through this kind of situation, detailed explanations of how this occurs and how we can reverse the process. Feeling desperate.
Thank you. Will have a look at the links.
At a glance I would say I need something which zooms in on the scenario described in the second link - i.e. "Some autistic people have described burnout that is so severe its effects have persisted for years." It'd be handy to know what on earth to say to the DWP when this occurs too (esp. with no corroborative evidence because of non engagement with services).