what exactly are Meltdowns?
This week’s theme is Managing Meltdowns but before we can learn about how to manage them it’s crucial to understand what they are, and what they are not. The word “meltdown” is often used by the general community in place of things like “big emotions” and “tantrums”, which I think can be quite unhelpful and diminishes the very real challenges being faced by an autistic individual leading up to and during meltdown, and can to lead misunderstanding and judgement. It is really important when you see what could be a meltdown, to be empathetic and kind and refrain from being judgmental and making unnecessary comments.
Meltdowns tend to occur as a result of an autistic individual feeling overwhelmed. This could be overwhelmed by sensory stimuli, overwhelmed by emotions, overwhelmed due to uncertainty and change or in the case of PDA overwhelmed by demands and expectations and pressure to comply. There are probably many other examples of when meltdowns may happen but the important point to note is that it comes as a result of feeling completely overwhelmed and is an inability to cope with the situation. The meltdown itself is an expression of this feeling and might look like shouting, screaming, and crying, lashing out, hitting, kicking and throwing things. It can also look like withdrawal, reluctance to interact and avoidance, and this would be described as a shutdown.
Meltdowns are NOT:
temper tantrums
an attempt to control or coerce
attention seeking
bad behaviour
something to be punished
You may notice the “rumblings” of a meltdown or what might also be called the build up beforehand. This can look like stimming behaviour, pacing, restlessness, verbal and physical behaviours. It is possible, to still divert away from a meltdown at this stage, but sometimes nothing you try seems to work, or the situation prevents effective strategies being used, and a meltdown becomes inevitable.
Image Source: https://www.crporegon.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=443
The other side of the meltdown is the recovery stage. Things start to calm and the individual may need space and time, or encouragement and support. If we try to get back to normal routine too quickly here the meltdown can easily be reignited.
Think about the burning embers of a fire as it dies down. and you throw a fire lighter on it and it bursts into flames again.
Over the week I will be sharing more about how we can prevent, divert from and ride through and help individuals to recover from meltdowns, but if you are needing some quick tips right now click here to get access to my “5 Top Tips for Managing Meltdowns” or to book a free consultation with me.
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