Tackle it Tuesday: Autism Burnout Part 2

November 19, 2024

Welcome to Tackle It Tuesday, a social media series where an autistic employee at AAoM (yours truly) writes workplace tips to better cope with the stresses of a working world not built for neurodiversity.

While creating the latest entry for AAoM’s social platforms, I realized that social media alone isn’t the ideal archive for all the past Tackle It Tuesday entries, as it shares space with all the other important work AAoM does. So, this blog companion was born!

This Tackle it Tuesday is on autism burnout and the two ways you can heal from autism burnout.

I did not come up with these on my own, so my sources are right here:

https://med.stanford.edu/content/dam/sm/neurodiversity/documents/SIGNeurodiversity/Katie-Oswald-Autistic-Burnout-presentation-March-2022.pdf 

https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/professional-practice/autistic-burnout

https://neurodivergentinsights.com/blog/autistic-burnout-recovery

An image on a green background. On the bottom right, there is an image of a person in a blue dress shirt with their head on fire. Two gas canisters are fueling the fire, and one fire extinguisher is attempting to put it out. The text reads: "Tackle it Tuesday: Autism Burnout Prevention and Healing Focusing on the immediate need for healing can help, but it doesn’t solve the burnout. Like taking out only one gas can."

An image on a green background. The text reads: "Tackle it Tuesday: Autism Burnout Prevention and Healing According to Megan Anna Neff of Neurodivergent Insights, autism burnout healing comes in two stages: Immediate (this word is in a green box with a white line behind it) and Sustained (this word is in a blue box with a white line behind it)."

An image on a green background. On the bottom of the image, there is a white curving line with blue circles on top. There are words in the circles. The text reads: "Tackle it Tuesday: Immediate Healing The immediate need comes from giving yourself time to unwind and unmask. (these words are in the circles) Safe Foods Resting Stimming Special Interests Control Over Sensory Input"

An image on a green background. On the bottom left, there is an image of a person in a blue dress shirt with smoke coming out of their head. This smoke is actually the remains of a fire that has been put out. The text reads: "Tackle it Tuesday: Sustained Healing Sustained healing is much more difficult, and it requires taking out the factors that are burning you out. Like taking out the gas cans and using a fire extinguisher.

An image on a green background. On the bottom right, there are two people talking. One person is wearing a green shirt with a white hoodie, and is talking to a person in a red sweater. The person in the red sweater approves, represented with a speech bubble with a checkmark inside. The text reads: "Tackle it Tuesday: Setting Boundaries If something is setting off burnout, and you can safely tell someone about it, you can.

An image on a green background. The text reads: "Tackle it Tuesday: Sustained Healing Making Your Daily Life Easier Having pre-made food/easy cooking Eliminating any sensory woes where you can Change lighting situation around home Reduce undesirable sensory input in some tasks (baths instead of showers, gloves when handling dishes or wet laundry) Reduce amount of chores done at a time"

An image on a green background. On the bottom right, there is a person in a blue dress shirt showing a person in a red shirt sitting at a table a document with the acronym ADA and additional text represented as lines". The text reads: "Tackle it Tuesday: Sustained Healing Asking for Accommodations If there are systems in place to ask for accommodations in work or school, use them. If they get antsy, there are government programs that can advocate with you."

An image on a green background. The text reads: "Tackle it Tuesday: Sustained Healing Finding Environments Better Suited For Your Needs. School and work can be major contributors to burnout. There area ways to make either environment easier. Asking for accomodations in your current school or work systems Finding new schools or jobs if the first option falls through Taking a strategic gap year or leave if available"

An image on a green background. On the bottom right, there are fire extinguishers trying to put out a gas fire. The text reads: "Tackle it Tuesday: Sustained Healing This one is probably the most difficult, as resources can vary wildly. Sometimes you can feel even more burnt out trying to change things in your life. That’s when you can use immediate healing to make sustained healing just a bit easier."

An image on a green background. The text reads: "Tackle it Tuesday: Sources/More Resources https://med.stanford.edu/content/dam/sm/neurodiversity/documents/SIGNeurodiversity/Katie-Oswald-Autistic-Burnout-presentation-March-2022.pdf https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/professional-practice/autistic-burnout https://neurodivergentinsights.com/blog/autistic-burnout-recovery"

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